Resolution #2 Township & Gounty of Origin: Witma Township, Pine County
Proposed Resolution and Goal:
Resolved that the Minnesota Association of Townships should advocate for universal cell phone
coverage in underserved townships.
Lacking cell phone coverage can be a serious pain point for township residents. lt affects matters as petty as creating difficulty accessing websites that require cellular authentication all the way up
to literal life-saving emergency responses.
Current Law:
Neither the author, nor MAT staff were able to locate any existing cellular or wireless service
mandate in Minnesota statutes.s At the federa[level, the Communications Act of 1934 has been
interpreted as mandating universal telecommunications for Americans. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly adopted certain criteria to guide the universal service policy. These principles include:
Promote the availability of quality services at just, reasonable and affordable rates for all consumers
lncrease nationwide access to advanced telecommunications services
Advance the availability of such services to all consumers, including those in low-income,
rural, insular, and high cost areas, at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged
in urban areas
lncrease access to telecommunications and advanced services in schools, libraries and
ruraI health care facilities Provide equitable and non-discriminatory contributions from all providers of
telecommunications services for the fund supporting universaI service programs.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 led to the creation of the Universal Service Administrative
Company, or USAC, an independent, not-for-profit corporation designated as the administrator of
the federal Universal Service Fund by the FCC.7 This entity administers a number of programs
designed to expand communications coverage more widely.
Presently, wireless coverage is tracked by the Federal Communications Commission. The latest mapped data available was as of May 15,2021.8 White Minnesota appears to have substantially better coverage than some of our sister states, nevertheless large areas of territory remain
underserved and unserved.
The NationaI Emergency Number Association estimates that in many areas approximately 80 percent of
emergency ca[[s are from wireless devices. https://www.nena.org/pagelg1 l Statistics?#
Wireless service providers are subject to certain mandates within areas they cover, for example Minn. Stat. 403.08 subd 7 requires integration with local 911 systems.
Expected Effect of Proposed Change:
While no specific policy change is proposed, there are several examples potential options to serve
this purpose. They range from simply adding a cellular voice mandate to Minnesota’s Office
of Broadband Development’s coverage mandate to more complex–the creation of an equivalent office for cellular coverage.
Att options have both advantages and disadvantages. ln terms of expected positives, access to
reliable cellular coverage will expand economic opportunities, help with emergency responses, add
redundancy to internet-based resources, et cetera.
ln terms of potential downsides, mandated coverage may have some negative effects on
townships’ zoning powers as applied to cell towers. ln addition any substantial new spending must
come from somewhere, in the form of fees on providers new taxes, public borrowing, et cetera.
Further, big public spending on matters other than transportation potentially shrinks the
discretionary funds available to support township roads.