Minnesota Close to Extending Broadband Safety Certification Deadline

May 2, 2025 – An amendment to a year-old broadband safety law in Minnesota would give broadband installers more time to complete required safety training.

Minnesota state Senator Rob Kupec, D-Moorhead, authored the update, which passed the state Senate unanimously Wednesday. The update allows broadband workers in seven counties throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to complete the requisite 40 hours of safety training and pass a state-mandated test by January 1, 2026. 

“Everyone deserves access to high-speed broadband internet in Minnesota, but we must make sure that this broadband expansion is done safely by workers trained to do it,” Sen. Kupec said. “With support from labor, industry, and community leaders, this bill updates and aligns state policy to protect workers and help us meet our broadband goals.”

Kupec's bill followed pushback from the Minnesota Cable Communications Association and the Minnesota Telecom Alliance against a separate 2024 statute, which mandated that the training and test be completed and passed by July 1, 2025. 

In a March 9 letter posted to the Inforum website, MCCA Executive Director Melissa Wolf and MTA President and CEO Brett Christensen argued that the July deadline was “impossible” to meet and that it would bring broadband deployment to a “screeching halt” unless lawmakers acted fast to change the deadline.

Christensen said the House is likely to approve the bill next week and that he is expecting Gov. Tim Walz (D) to sign it.

Minnesota was awarded $651 million by the Biden administration in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program funding. The state has not received the funding.