As hard-to-reach rural communities start seeing the thick spirals of fiber broadband roll up and dive deep into the Earth to deliver super fast Internet speeds, it’s a good time to start taking stock of your community’s digital equity efforts. After all, high-speed broadband is only as transformative as the people who are putting it …
Reposted from the Blandin on Broadband blog By Ann Treacy, Treacy Information Services Minnesota is looking at an unprecedented amount of money coming in (from State and Federal funds) to support deployment of better broadband. Today, policymakers and government agencies are processing how to spend that money but opportunity is around the corner. So what …
Lac qui Parle’s Computer Commuter is a stand-out example of what can happen when equitable, community-powered thinking meets future-forward planning. Conceived 12 years ago, the Computer Commuter was a unique solution to combat rural internet access issues. Not only did the program offer internet connections for rural people who didn’t have them, it went one …
Soon, more money than ever will be available to rural communities looking to build better broadband. To keep conversation about broadband’s importance to rural life top of mind, we’re lifting up stories from you — the people living, working and connecting in rural Minnesota! Your stories can help motivate and inspire decisionmakers as they plan …
Buses in Chisholm and Mountain Iron-Buhl might be a little quieter this year. Both districts recently installed Wi-Fi routers as part of their community’s participation in the Iron Range Broadband Communities, a program organized by Blandin Foundation and supported by IRRRB and St. Louis County. In Chisholm, two connected buses will be used for students …
“It never dawned on me that it [lack of broadband Internet] would be such a detriment to my business.” — Casey Jelinski, former Aitkin County resident When Blandin Foundation entered into broadband work nearly 15 years ago, local leaders were excited about the possibilities that came with Internet access. Most, though, didn’t yet realize how …
In a series of region-specific commentaries on the need for better broadband in rural Minnesota, Blandin Foundation President Dr. Kathleen Annette congratulates the hard work so many communities have done to bring high-speed Internet to their communities. With nearly all of the state’s un- and underserved areas in rural communities, though, she urges leaders to …
The conversation about broadband access and use in Minnesota is heating up as the 2016 legislative session gets underway. To raise up the hundreds of rural voices that crafted the vision for broadband in Minnesota, our president, Dr. Kathy Annette, wrote an opinion piece that the Star Tribune is carrying today. In it she celebrates …
As part of the ConnectALL Initiative announced by the White House yesterday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will develop and launch a new online tool to help local leaders identify broadband needs in their community and connect them to the necessary resources to move forward. Blandin Foundation, along with a stellar list of national …
Border-to-border broadband — this is a movement that is not going away. Last year, more than 170 people came together to form a vision for broadband in Minnesota. That vision — “Everyone in Minnesota will be able to use convenient, affordable world-class broadband networks that enable us to survive and thrive in our communities and …