REGIONAL — As high-speed fiber-optic broadband systems continue rolling out along the south shore of Lake Vermilion and in Alango, Owens, Angora, Sandy, Pike, Wuori, Great Scott, and Bearville townships, one thing is abundantly clear: None of these projects would be happening without significant government funding behind them.
But whether we’ll keep seeing fiber splicing its way across the North Country is suddenly up for debate.
States are now scrambling to re-evaluate their broadband plans after a June policy shift from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees the single largest federal commitment to rural broadband in U.S. history – the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Federal support for broadband has been anything but consistent over the past 25 years, morphing along with the technology itself. It began with efforts to wire up schools and hospitals in the late 1990s and eventually evolved into programs like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and BEAD, which emphasized fiber as the preferred long-term solution. Fiber’s reputation as the gold standard for speed and reliability earned it top billing in most funding evaluations – until now.

Leveling the field
The NTIA fundamentally altered how BEAD funding decisions must be made. In plain terms, fiber no longer gets a leg up. The updated guidance says states must adopt a “technology-neutral” approach. Whether it’s fiber, fixed wireless, or low-earth-orbit satellite, all technologies now compete under the same rules, and cost weighs heavily in the competition.
To qualify, a broadband provider must offer speeds of at least 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits upload, with a response time (latency) under 100 milliseconds – that’s the delay between clicking and loading. The network also has to be capable of scaling up in the future as demand increases. If a provider can hit those marks and submit a lower-cost bid than a fiber installer, they could win the funding.
It’s potentially a big win for satellite and wireless providers. As Jeff Heynen, vice president at the Dell’Oro Group, told industry media company SDxCentral, “Where fiber may have been competing, it’s certainly not going to be the lowest-cost option when compared to fixed wireless or satellite.”
That doesn’t mean fiber is out of the picture. Broadband analyst J. Randolph Luening, writing in Broadband Breakfast, noted, “Fiber is the best option where it’s affordable. It’s fast, reliable, and supports future applications.”
But affordability is now a key priority, and when building out to remote, sparsely populated areas, fiber’s trench-digging costs often push it out of contention.
That tradeoff has raised concerns. The Benton Institute recently reported that Elon Musk’s Starlink, the most prominent LEO satellite provider, met the BEAD benchmark of 100/20 Mbps for only about 17 percent of user speedtesters, suggesting that while satellites are fast to deploy, their performance remains spotty. Public Knowledge, a Washington-based tech policy group, warned that the NTIA’s new rules risk cementing lower performing broadband in rural areas by funding quick fixes over long-term solutions. In their words: “Slowing BEAD to speed up satellites could lock rural communities into second-tier broadband for decades.”

States ordered to start over
The changes aren’t just philosophical – they come with marching orders. States were told to cancel any tentative broadband awards they had already made and reopen all eligible locations for new bids. Scoring systems must be rewritten to focus on the lowest-cost proposals. Optional requirements like affordability plans for middle-income households, climate impact analyses, or local coordination strategies are out. And every previous application must be either re-scored under the new rules or resubmitted.
In Minnesota, that means the Office of Broadband Development is scrambling to adjust. The office has already rescinded all provisional awards and is preparing a new grant round where all technologies – fiber, satellite, or otherwise – are welcome to compete. OBD is also updating maps of unserved areas, particularly where past federal broadband promises fell short, and dropping previous paperwork requirements that aren’t federally mandated. In the meantime, they’re holding regular webinars to guide internet providers through the new process.

What it means here
For northeastern Minnesota, the implications are significant. Projects already in motion will continue because funding was secured before the rules changed. But what comes next is far less certain.
The NTIA’s new rules prioritize fast, cheap deployments, even if the technology doesn’t offer the same reliability or lifespan as fiber. In areas where fiber might cost more to install, it could lose out to point-to-point wireless or satellite – even if those options offer less consistent performance over time.
For rural residents still waiting for that first real taste of broadband, the question isn’t just when high-speed internet will reach them — it’s also what kind of internet they’ll get.
Paul Bunyan Communications declined to comment for the Timberjay, indicating the need for more clarification from the state before assessing the implications for future development.