St. Louis County Broadband Speed Test
DATELINE – Thursday, April 9, 2020
FORMAL PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION
St. Louis County in partnership with the Range Association of Municipalities & Schools (RAMS) is pleased to announce the formal public kickoff of a crowdsourcing project covering all of St. Louis County. This broadband speed testing initiative is being conducted by GEO Partners, LLC during a time when more people are at home per the Governor’s “Stay at Home” directive. This includes over 30,000 students (K-12) as well as parents required to work from home and thus should provide the most comprehensive, accurate accumulation of actual broadband speeds ever conducted in the County while demand on the system is highest.
The data collected via a one minute speed test can be conducted from any device connected to your broadband signal including cell phones and will result in statistically valid data and mapping. This data will then enable any locale in St. Louis County to utilize the validated information for a broadband expansion project and seek grant funding from the FCC, USDA or Border to Border state program. We anticipate a higher than normal volume of participation, partially because of all the students who are struggling to stay connected to their E Learning while living in rural areas in the county.
RAMS, as an organization has been a strong advocate for broadband expansion across the region. RAMS’ and St. Louis County Commissioners, recognize that high speed quality broadband is a critical utility to economic development, education, business and virtual healthcare. RAMS is grateful to the partnership with St. Louis County on this project and encourages everyone to TAKE THE TEST and SHARE THE LINK https://expressoptimizer.net/public/ TAKE IT NOW! Your participation is important and no personal information will be collected.
For further comment Steve Giorgi – RAMS Executive Director is available via email or by phone (sgiorgi@ramsmn.org 218.780.8877
Fast, reliable and affordable broadband access in northeastern Minnesota is an economic necessity for businesses, homes and community and government institutions.
Large, small and home-based businesses rely on it. Entrepreneurs and telecommuters rely on it. Schools, colleges and online learners rely on it. Health care facilities and telemedicine rely on it. Almost every facet of daily life in 2020 relies on uninterrupted, high-speed internet. Without it businesses, schools, health systems and families become constricted to conduct both simple and complex tasks.
Currently most of northeastern Minnesota is considered either unserved or underserved by broadband service (view state broadband map). However major efforts are underway to overcome the most significant barrier, which is the high cost of deploying broadband infrastructure to rural communities. Beginning in 2015 Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation financially supported broadband infrastructure to households through two large grants to Clinton and Balkan Townships, and in 2019 through a grant to Aitkin County. In 2016 and 2019 the agency partnered with Blandin Foundation and St. Louis County to help fund the Blandin Broadband Communities (BBC) program to support initiatives in communities throughout the region. The BBC (still in action) spurs access to broadband and increases the number and sophistication of users across the region.
One hundred and one small projects resulted from BBC, everything from installing Wi-Fi on school buses, in parks and campgrounds; launching tourism apps; checking out portable hot spot devices at libraries; community websites; business technology centers and co-working spaces; feasibility studies to strengthen federal and state grant applications; and, donating refurbished computers to people. The 101 projects were geared to increase internet use because increased internet use drives private companies and rural co-ops to invest in broadband utility infrastructure. The providers responded and massive infrastructure projects have either occurred or are on the very near horizon. Private providers in the region include Paul Bunyan Communications, CTC, Frontier, Century Link, Mediacom, SCI Broadband, Mid Continent, NESC, Consolidated Telephone, True North Broadband, Zito Media, HughesNet, ViaSat, Emily Telephone Cooperative, Cooperative Light & Power, and Arvig. Pictured above: Broadband infrastructure construction, Keewatin.
“Access to high-speed internet in rural northeastern Minnesota is equivalent to other basic services such as postal delivery, electricity and telephones,” said Whitney Ridlon, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation community development representative. “Mail, electrical and telephone service at one point in history were considered luxuries and available only in larger cities. Eventually our nation considered these basic public utilities and made them available in rural areas across America: mail delivery in the late 1800s, electricity in the 1930s and telephone service in the 1950s. We are at that same point with broadband.”
A 2018 report by NEO Connect, “Iron Range Communities Broadband Roadmap” revealed that in the region, 51% of homes have school-aged residents, 20% have home-based businesses, and 38% of homes have at least one person telecommuting.
“Broadband is fundamental to economic development in rural Minnesota,” said Mark Phillips, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation commissioner. “Our region’s exceptional outdoor recreation is a major quality of life draw for people wanting to relocate here. High-speed broadband enables people to live rural and work remotely for employers around the world. It allows businesses in our area to expand and compete. It allows our youth to learn online with colleges across the country.”
Pictured above: Sen. David Tomassoni speaks at a Balsam town hall meeting celebrating the award of a state border-to-border Infrastructure grant to Paul Bunyan Communications to serve portions of eastern Itasca County.
Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation has been investing in broadband since 2015. Two recent announcements emerged regarding the advancement of broadband in northeastern Minnesota, and the agency has been instrumental in their progress either through gap funding or community facilitation.
Article by: Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation
http://timberjay.com/stories/high-interest-in-high-speed-internet-in-greenwood,15597
2019 Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program
Applications Received—Challenge Process Begins
Seventy-eight (78) applications for the 2019 Border-to-Border Broadband Development grant program were received by the September 13 deadline. The Office of Broadband Development has initiated the challenge process required by Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 116J.395 subd. 5a) concurrent with its review of the applications. A list of the applications filed and instructions on how to file a challenge, if necessary, are available at http://mn.gov/deed/programs-
If you have any questions, please contact our office at 651-259-7610 or via email at deed.broadband@state.mn.us.
Executive Director
Phone: 218-748-7651
Email: rams@ramsmn.org