Digital equity the objective of proposed state broadband office expansion

If you were to think about which areas of the state do not have access to high-speed internet, you might think of rural areas, where laying fiberoptic lines to homes in sparsely populated areas is logistically and economically difficult.

And you would be right.

But Rep. Samantha Vang (DFL-Brooklyn Center) noted many urban areas can also be internet deserts due to lack of infrastructure or affordability reasons.

She sponsors HF2279, which would expand the duties of the Office of Broadband Development, which was established in 2014 to provide statewide grants to new and existing internet providers to invest in building broadband infrastructure into unserved and underserved areas of the state.

“High-speed internet access is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity for homeowners and businesses,” she said.

The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee amended the bill Wednesday and laid it over for possible inclusion in a committee bill.

The office would be charged with developing a statewide digital equity plan and implementing programs to meet the state’s digital equity goals specified in the bill by 2028, including:

• 95% of households must have access to a personal computer or comparable device;
• 95% of households must have a home broadband subscription and be enrolled in an internet service plan; and
• 70% of eligible households must receive available internet service discounts.

To reflect the expanded goals proposed by the bill, the Office of Broadband Development would be renamed to the Office of Broadband Development and Digital Opportunity.

Mika Baer spoke of growing up on her family’s dairy farm in Winona County where the lack of high-speed internet put the high-tech tools of modern farming out of reach for her parents.

“Modern dairy farming relies on digital tools for everything, from herd health monitoring to climate forecasting,” she said. “When broadband finally came to our area it didn’t just make things easier, it changed everything.”

Baer has a unique perspective on both rural and urban broadband disparities.

She now lives in Minneapolis, and in her role as the policy and partnerships manager in the Hennepin County Office of Broadband and Digital Inclusion, she sees the need for the expansion of digital access to urban communities.

Baer said up to 25% of Hennepin County residents don’t have access to high-speed internet and she has witnessed parents parking outside libraries so their kids can get their homework done.

“Without [broadband service], we risk leaving people behind and widening economic disparities, making it harder for our communities to compete in a modern economy,” she said.