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Bree Maki, Minnesota’s broadband director, says new requirements from the NTIA have caused concern among providers participating in BEAD.
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Requirements asking providers to submit written statements pledging not to take additional subsidies to complete and operate BEAD projects have had a chilling effect, according to Bree Maki, the director of Minnesota’s office of broadband development.
Maki made the comments in her recent appearance on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities podcast.
She said providers using subsidies from the Universal Service Fund have been most hesitant to participate in the government’s $42.45 billion broadband spend, known as the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
“There’s just a level of uncertainty,” she said, referencing the announcement from Arielle Roth last November directing states to obtain the written statements.
She also said a strong gap still remains as the rollout of BEAD continues, noting that some locations to be covered with broadband to federal standards will still fail to meet Minnesota’s standards of coverage.
“There is a lot of concern”
Additionally, Maki said there is worry among some providers regarding participation in federal programs, due to shifting guidelines.
“There is a lot of concern,” Maki said, adding that providers still are unclear of the consequences of taking federal dollars.
Despite the uncertainty, Maki’s office, which has existed since 2013, has tried to leverage Minnesota’s deep history with second- and third-tier providers.
“That legacy is what created the Office of Broadband Development,” Maki said.
She said efforts in the state to do mapping and strategic planning around broadband actually date back to 2008.
She said Minnesota has a family of providers, big and small, and called out that working with small providers is nothing new in Minnesota.
“We don’t do this work,” she said. “We can help facilitate the dollars, the research, the data, the mapping, really it’s our internet service providers that are going out there and investing in their communities with our partnership.”
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