MINNESOTA CAN BE A LEADER IN BROADBAND

May 26, 2010

Picture a high school student in rural Minnesota taking online courses from a technical college in the Twin Cities. Imagine a doctor in Rochester advising a patient via a video-conference about the best treatment options available for a serious illness. Envision a farmer in southern Minnesota buying his cattle in an online livestock auction.

Picture a pregnant mother continuing to work from home, or a grandfather chatting with his grandkids in Denver via Facebook. Our medical technology has become so advanced that doctors are performing tele-surgery from thousands of miles away using robotics.

Statewide high speed broadband internet doesn't just improve our quality of life, lower health care costs, boost public safety and reduce traffic congestion. It is vital to the economic growth of Minnesota as we rise from a recession. With high-speed internet access available, new business markets in Minnesota will emerge and our existing ones will be able to compete in a global marketplace in which services are increasingly delivered via the internet.

While Minnesota and the Unites States were once leaders in broadband penetration and speed, we have fallen behind. The U.S. now ranks 15th in broadband speed and 12th in broadband penetration. Minnesota, once a top-tier broadband state, has fallen back into the middle of the pack.

Until the 2010 Minnesota legislative session, Minnesota was one in a small handful of states that had no plan in place for the development of broadband infrastructure. We hadn't addressed what most other states had identified as a key component to the infrastructure needs of their businesses and residents.

Based on the recommendations of the Ultra-High Speed Broadband Task Force that convened in 2008 and has spent countless hours researching broadband internet in Minnesota, the state in April adopted broadband internet goals. Both houses of the Legislature approved these goals with bipartisan support and they were signed by the governor.

The goals state that by 2015 all Minnesotans will have access to broadband internet with download speeds of 10 megabits per second and upload speeds of five megabits per second; Minnesota will in the top five states nationally in broadband access and speed; and that we will put together an advisory committee with a wide range of stakeholders to make sure we are reaching these goals in the most efficient manner possible.

Though these are only goals they will help local, state and federal officials work together and with businesses to make sure we are all on the same page and have the same ideas in mind.

We're seeing progress already. As part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $7.2 billion will be spent nationally on broadband internet infrastructure. Minnesota communities have been aggressive in their pursuit of this funding. Communities in northeast, southern and west central Minnesota have already secured over $60 million in federal funding to improve and expand broadband internet access.

The importance of broadband internet access cannot be understated. According to a report prepared for the U.S. Department of Commerce, "Communities in which mass-market broadband was available experienced more rapid growth in employment, the number of businesses overall, and businesses in IT-intensive sectors, relative to comparable communities without broadband." In addition, the report found that communities with broadband access had higher property values.

Oftentimes when we think about our state's infrastructure, we think only about roads, bridges, water lines, power lines and sewer systems. As the U.S. economy shifts and begins to deliver more services digitally - such as health care, engineering, finance and entertainment - we need to make sure we have the infrastructure available for businesses to compete to deliver those services with global competitors.

I'm pleased the Legislature and governor understands the vital role broadband will play in Minnesota's economic recovery. Our progress moving toward 2015 will be exciting.

State Rep. Sheldon Johnson (DFL-St. Paul) is chair of the House Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division.