“We recognize, especially during the pandemic, that it’s no longer a luxury. It is critical for people to have access to [high speed] internet,” said Anoka County administrator Rhonda Sivarajah,
At the end of May, the federal government announced $42 billion is going to be available through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime really. There are a lot of different grants available specifically targeted towards broadband right now,” said Sivarajah.
Minnesota estimates that 240,000 households in the state don’t have the option of high speed internet, making those areas potentially unattractive for homebuyers.
Lack of internet can also limit the type of businesses that are willing to build.
“We want to make sure that we can be competitive moving forward. It becomes a business attraction issue.”
So the county, along with some of its northern cities are having conversations about what comes next. Some ideas include building roads that have space to install fiber underneath and potentially funding part of the internet buildout.
“It is like the electricity and the telephone service of years ago. This is not a luxury anymore this really is a necessity,” said Sivarajah.
