Fed funds a boon for rural broadband

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Broadband has become so commonplace for so many that it can be hard to remember that not everyone has access to high-speed internet.

In Minnesota, there are at least 136,000 homes and small businesses in mostly rural areas that lack what has become a necessity of everyday life, hindering everything from remote schooling to business competitiveness.

That's why the news that Minnesota will receive $652 million in federal funding to expand broadband across the state is especially welcome. It comes on top of $100 million the state set aside in this year's legislative session. Together, these resources should allow for substantial improvements to broadband access across the state and a much-needed revitalization of the outstate economy.

The funding boost is yet another benefit of the federal infrastructure act, passed by a strong bipartisan coalition in Congress in 2021. The act has become a critical element in President Joe Biden's massive effort to update needed infrastructure across this country, particularly for states that match at least some of the federal funds with their own.

Interestingly, some of the biggest gains in high-speed connectivity will be realized by rural areas that tend to vote Republican. Biden noted as much at a recent White House news conference, saying that the $42.5 billion to be spent on faster internet connections across the country would benefit all Americans, "whether or not they voted for me."

That is the approach more political leaders should take and is a distinct departure from his predecessor, who too often governed by a "reward friends, punish perceived enemies" ethos that pitted communities and states against one another.

This broadband investment is one that can put the furthest reaches of states on par with more urbanized areas and make better use of some of the natural advantages rural areas have, such as more affordable housing, small-town life, wide-open spaces and easier access to wilderness areas.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar told the Star Tribune in a recent story that she has heard for years from constituents about their desperate need for broadband, from farmers to businesses that increasingly rely on online sales. "If we weren't able to have an even playing field for Greater Minnesota with the metro, then we were going to start falling behind," she told a reporter.

But it's not only rural areas that are suffering. A Star Tribune analysis of census data from 2016-20 published late last year showed that households in parts of north and central Minneapolis had the lowest percentages of broadband cable and the highest percentage without internet service.

Regrettably, the biggest disparities were found in formerly "redlined" neighborhoods. Redlining was a government-sanctioned practice of race-based housing discrimination, designed mostly to keep Black homeowners in certain, less desirable neighborhoods and out of others. Redlining's corrosive legacy has continued past its banning in 1968, with less available high-speed internet serving as just one more reminder. (The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development directs users to a one-click test that can determine internet speeds.)

Minnesota's goal now is universal access to high-speed internet by 2026. But it is important to note that a Governor's Task Force on Broadband annual report, published in late 2022, stated that improved mapping had shown that there might be more than 198,000 households statewide with no or insufficient service, and that 80% of those are in outstate Minnesota. According to the report, as the new Federal Communications Commission "fabric map" updates coverage, even more deficits may be revealed.

"Clearly the billions of dollars of federal money being allocated to close broadband coverage gaps will dramatically improve Minnesota's ability to serve every Minnesotan," the report said. But "our estimates indicate that the Legislature will still need to dedicate resources from reserves to fully meet the need."

Leaving some Minnesotans behind in the digital revolution is no longer an option. High speed internet has rapidly developed into an essential commodity so intrinsic to daily life that without it, students, farmers, homeowners and businesses all suffer and can be put at a needless competitive disadvantage. Universal access to high-speed broadband, achieved as rapidly as possible, will ensure that no Minnesotans are left behind.