How Does the Governor’s New State Broadband Report Impact Cities?

The Governor’s Broadband Task Force released its 2012 Annual Report and Broadband Plan with recommendations to expand broadband to cities across Minnesota.
(Published Dec 19, 2012)

The Governor’s Task Force on Broadband released a report on Dec. 11 that highlights recommendations for implementing policies to expand broadband access across the state.

The primary goal of the Task Force on Broadband has been to develop an action plan for identifying and correcting disparities in access, and adoption of broadband in all Minnesota communities—urban, rural, and suburban.

Cities would be most impacted by the following recommendations:

  • Provide a tax credit or grant to incent broadband providers to build in unserved areas.
  • Extend current sales tax exemption on equipment purchased for use in a central office to include the purchase of fiber optics and broadband equipment.
  • Create a program or mechanism to coordinate rural broadband installation with state and federal programs assisting hospitals, schools, libraries, and public safety facilities with obtaining broadband.
  • Increase funding to public libraries and schools for computer stations and Internet access.
  • Establish an ongoing, post-task force resource within state government for high-speed broadband-focused efforts in the future.

This is the fourth task force report released this year and represents a diverse balance of broadband interests, including consumers, businesses, residential users, educational and healthcare institutions, traditional telephone and cable companies, wireless providers, and local units of government.

League staff and the appointed city representative shared a city perspective at meetings of the task force. Also, the League’s own Telecommunications Task Force helped to develop the League’s policies related to broadband access, which were incorporated into the LMC 2013 City Policies under policy LE-14: State Broadband Policy Priorities for Cities.

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