Legislators mull broadband policy

published 10/18/2007

Members of a House division heard a clear message from business and community leaders Wednesday: the state must take the lead in bringing faster broadband to Minnesota.

At a hearing in Eagan, the House Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division took testimony from representatives of businesses, local governments and private citizens alike who called for development of a statewide broadband Internet policy goal.

“There is a place for government involvement in the development of broadband across the state,” said Shirley Walz, a systems architect for West Group, a division of the Eagan-based Thomson West.

Rick King, Thomson West’s vice president and chief operating officer, said that improving the state’s broadband infrastructure is crucial for companies to stay competitive, noting that the United States has dramatically slower Internet speeds than other industrialized nations.

“If we don’t have connectivity in this business, the cash register stops ringing,” he said.

Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire said that high-speed Internet should be considered “critical infrastructure” for the state, and argued that companies “make location decisions based on the strength of broadband infrastructure.”

Other testifiers noted that little action is being taken on the federal level to improve broadband infrastructure, and cited examples of numerous states developing their own broadband capabilities through joint public-private ventures. JoAnne Johnson, a lobbyist for Frontier Communications, described such partnerships as “the way of the future.”

No one testified in opposition.

- Nick Busse