09.e1 Memo - 2022 Midco Agreement and Frontier Letter of SupportPage 1 of 1
City of Scandia
14727 209th St. N., Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433-2274 | Fax (651) 433-5112 | www.cityofscandia.com
DATE: Tuesday August 16, 2022
FROM: Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
RE: 2022 Midco Agreement and Letter of Support to Frontier
On January 4th of this year, the City Council authorized a letter of intent to obtain a internet buildout
proposal from Midcontinent Communications (AKA) Midco to provide access to broadband internet
services to 250 households for the 2022 construction season. As part of this request the City
requested the following information be provided:
· A complete project map and detailed list of addresses to be served.
· Specific details on the minimum and maximum upload and download speeds to be
offered.
· A proposed cost breakdown between the City, Midco, Washington County, and other
anticipated funding sources.
· The inclusion of third-party verification services as part of the agreement.
The proposal includes 152 total service passings. This list includes 47 homes that are already
included in Midco’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RODF) award area, which is a federal program
that is currently funding buildout in select US Census tracts within the City. This means the City will
be providing funding for 105 serves passes to homes in the City. The total cost of the agreement to
the City is $219,000.
Letter of Support to Frontier for Buildout in Scandia
As some of you bay already be aware, this week the FCC denied LTD Broadband’s awarded Census
blocks, which has now freed these areas to more easily obtain buildout funding through state and
federal programming.
In anticipation of this, Frontier Communications has prepared a Border-to-Border Broadband Grant
application to the State of Minnesota for large areas of the City of Scandia and Chisago County
offering speeds of up to 2 gigabytes symmetrical, or 2 gigs of internet speed up or down.
Given the deadline was today and notice of request was only provided last week and due as of the
date of this City Council meeting, the Internet Action Committee Chair, Mayor, and I agreed to
provide a letter of support, as no financial contributions were requested from our agency. A copy of
this letter has been included in your packet.
We anticipate that Midco will challenge at least parts of this proposal for duplicate buildout and
perhaps other reasons. We hope to continue to work productively with both internet providers to
achieve the City’s 2024 goal for internet buildout to the entire City.
Please let me know if you have any questions.