Minnesota’s Broadband Map is Out with Good News on Availability

It’s not very often you can say that you were wrong and be happy about it. Sometimes it works with your spouse, or maybe even your dog. But in the business world, very seldom is being wrong a good thing. We find ourselves in that position. We were not at all excited about the state awarding the contract to do an electronic map of the broadband in Minnesota to Connected Nation. I talked to a number of my colleagues inside and outside of our state who had real concerns. We thought it would be much better to have a non-profit right here in Minnesota do the work, a local contractor that would know Minnesota, know who the providers were, and understand the Minnesota environment. “Why should we be having someone outside of the state develop the expertise — let’s keep that knowledge and expertise in Minnesota,” we thought. And although we still think that developing the expertise in Minnesota would have a real advantage. Nonetheless, Connected Nation has proven us wrong. The level of professionalism and expertise that they have exhibited far exceeded what we expected. They have worked well in providing a level of comfort to the providers that their data would not be misused. They have gotten a huge job done in a period of time that, last October, we thought was impossible. They have been complimentary when it was desired and critical when it was warranted. And, we have come to the conclusion that we were wrong about Connected Nation, and are we’re glad to admit it.

Now, for the preliminary findings of their map. In one regard, it is very frustrating. For a number of years MTA and MART were very confident in our numbers that showed that around 95% of our customers have access to broadband. We talked to the customers; we have seen the economic benefits that it has brought to our communities; and we have heard about all the deployment projects around the state. All of this has been verified annually by the study that the Center for Rural Policy and Development provides on broadband deployment. Yet, the skeptics would still whine that there was no broadband in Minnesota. Now we’ve had an outside source come to the same conclusion. The map that is being produced for the state is showing that 92% of Minnesota households have broadband available to them thanks to MTA member companies and the other providers in the state. That’s a clear indication that the high-speed Internet access is virtually ubiquitous in Minnesota. In testimony at the Legislature, Connected Nation said that “In other states we have not experienced the bandwidth that is available in this state.”  Minnesota is not falling behind!!!

Then we hear the cry that speeds are not fast enough. The mapping study is showing that, according to Connected Nation, “The average download speed statewide is higher than we have seen in any other state at approximately 6.5 Megs. The average upload speed is approximately 1.5 Megs.”  These same naysayers are questioning the accuracy of these numbers, contending that they are wrong. We think they are probably wrong, too. They are probably too LOW. The averages came from over 200,000 speed tests done by Minnesotans over the past few months. These tests show the average speeds that customers are buying, not the top speeds that are available. Ask any provider. The vast majority of customers are satisified with and buy speeds much less than the top speeds that providers offer. If you want a turn barometer of speeds in Minnesota, each provider should do the speed test, and then do a weighted average of these speeds. You’ll find speeds much higher than 6.5 Megs, I am willing to bet.

What’s next from the “Minnesota is falling behind” crowd? Well, we’re already hearing it: Reliability. Now the cry is that Minnesota’s broadband isn’t reliable. We actually had a high ranking member of the State’s Broadband Task Force testifying before the legislature that all of Minnesota’s Internet is coming into the state from one source – Chicago.  That’s just not true. The redundancy of sources of broadband coming into Minnesota is a fact. We have broadband coming into the state from not only Chicago, but also from Denver, Kansas City and even Seattle. Even the smallest of telcos in small rural communities have redundancy from two or three of these sources.  And the vast majority of towns in Minnesota have redundant fiber routes coming into their communities, through self healing fiber rings.

It almost seems as if the notion that Minnesota, yes even America, is behind the rest of the world in broadband is held by these folks with religious fervor. When the facts get in the way of a particular worldview and a particular crusade, one can just deny the facts that do not support your worldview.  That may be an easy way to deal with a world that doesn’t comport with your worldview, but it doesn’t lend itself to good public policy.

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