Chair Bob Willmer's 12-10-2020 update
From: Robert Wilmers [mailto:robert.wilmers@icloud.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2020 4:19 PM
To: Steve Kronmiller; p.ray John Carney; Marschall Smith; Cathy Mackiewicz; K.C. Douglas
Cc: k.cammilleri <k.cammilleri@ci.scandia.mn.us>; c.maefsky <c.maefsky@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: Scandia Internet / RDOF Update
Importance: High
Everyone,
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction has ended and the winners were announced this week. Two companies won bids in Scandia, MidCo and LTD Broadband.
The auction ‘silent period’ is still in place until January 29th while the necessary paperwork is filed by the participants. So for now we must rely on publicly available data rather
than speaking directly with these providers. See the links and maps I’ve attached below.
At this time we don’t know what the build-out schedule for these areas will be. We do know the Minnesota DEED Grant process will be frozen until the RDOF process is complete. DEED
will not award grant money that duplicates RDOF areas. The Scandia/MidCo grant for 2021 has significant overlap with MidCo’s RDOF area. We may want to consider any households not
in MidCo’s RDOF area but in the DEED area be covered with the city’s already approved contribution for the DEED grant. There are also areas within Scandia not covered by the current
RDOF process that may be eligible for future DEED, Federal, or private grants as well as direct aid to construction from the city.
Once the ‘silent period’ is over and DEED announces their grant results we’ll be able to open discussions with MidCo and LTD Broadband to determine how to proceed.
We can discuss in detail at the next IAC meeting which is scheduled for Thursday December 17th.
Bob
robert.wilmers@icloud.com
23219 St. Croix Trail N.
Scandia, MN 55073
218-343-1246
The FCC’s RDOF site has the latest information: https://www.fcc.gov/auction/904
This interactive map by CNS (Cooperative Network Services) is a good resource: RDOF Auction 904 Winners (arcgis.com)
Here are some news reports worth reading:
https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2020/12/the-feds-just-announced-over-400-million-for-rural-broadband-in-minnesota-three-quarters-of-it-is-going-to-one-small-company-with-limited-fiber-opti
c-experience/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fcc-awards-9-2-billion-for-construction-of-rural-broadband-networks-11607377472
Note LTD Broadband won a grant of almost $312 million for Minnesota projects, MidCo won $4.4 million.
There’s some concern whether LTD Broadband has the expertise and resources to successfully use their grant. Here’s a link to a YouTube interview with the founder /CEO of LTD Broadband,
it’s worth a look:
https://youtu.be/IjLpg32A3Xw
The map below shows the winning RDOF bid areas. MidCo won the area along Scandia’s northern border between Lofton and Olinda Trail, while LTD Broadband won the area east of Olinda to
the river and south. LTD Broadband also picked up the area around Fish Lake and to the east along 205th St. N, and scattered areas along our southern border.
The map below from Steve Kronmiller’s site shows the current service areas covered by MidCo and the RDOF areas:
Broadband in Scandia MN - 11-25-2020 - Google My Maps
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