Who’s Ready to Rumble?

The Rural Rumble is an online national Rocket League esports tournament where you will compete against teams from across the country for prizes!

The Rural Rumble is open to teams of three ages 13+ and is FREE for members of Paul Bunyan Communications.

Elimination rounds will be played on Sunday, February 2; the championship round will be played on Sunday, February 23.

For more information and to sign up, visit Rural Rumble 2025 Registration deadline is January 15.

The GigaZone Gaming Championship and TechXpo, a Paul Bunyan Communications event, has announced that Duncan Wardle, the former Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney, will be the special guest in 2025.

Duncan helped teams at Disney Parks, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, Imagineering and Animation to innovate, creating magical new storylines and amazing experiences for consumers around the globe. From sending Buzz Lightyear into space on a space shuttle, to creating an Olympic-sized swimming pool for Michael Phelps to swim down Main Street USA at Disneyland, to creating the Super Bowl halftime show for the new Millennium, Duncan has given life to some of the biggest ideas imaginable.

He is a multiple TEDx speaker and frequent contributor to Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes, and he teaches Innovation and Creativity Masterclasses at Yale and Harvard Universities. Duncan holds the American Citizen Award presented at the White House, an Honorary Doctorate from Edinburgh University, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award, presented by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

The 2025 GigaZone Gaming Championship & TechXpo will be April 12 at the Sanford Center in Bemidji.  It is free to attend, free to game, and free to be an exhibitor. The doors will open at 10 a.m.  As special guest, Wardle will present on the main stage at 2 p.m.  He will also be a judge for the Greater Bemidji NorthStar Pitch Competition.

The mission of the GigaZone TechXpo is to spark excitement and create opportunities with technology by connecting students and job seekers with employers, educators and technology enthusiasts from across northern Minnesota.  Schools and businesses can get in front of thousands of potential students, customers, and employees. There is no cost to be an exhibitor but space is limited and the exhibit must display the use of technology. Applications must be submitted by February 28, 2025 at www.gigazonetechxpo.com

The GigaZone Gaming Championship will feature free gaming on various console and arcade games, numerous tournaments, door prizes, and more. There is no cost to enter the tournaments or for any of the gaming.  Tournament details will be posted on the GigaZone Gaming Discord, Twitch channel, and Facebook page as well as www.gigazonegaming.com

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners, including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, and the Sanford Center, as well as support from several regional and national partners.

Get in to win with the Paul Bunyan Communications Pick-it Bowl Challenge, a free online contest for participants to pick the winners for the College Bowl games for a chance to win a credit on a Paul Bunyan Communications account.

The top 10 finishers will win a credit on their Paul Bunyan Communications account. First place winner will receive a $500 credit, second place is a $250 credit.  One random entry will also win a $100 credit on their account.

To sign up for the Pick It Bowl Challenge go to http://paulbunyan.pickitchallenge.com

The first official College Bowl game is Saturday, December 14 so be sure to register and make your picks by the start of the first game!

The Pick-it Bowl Challenge is a fun and free way to interact with others in northern Minnesota and enjoy a little friendly competition.  Must be 18 years of age or older. Limit one entry per person. Prizes not redeemable for cash. Void where prohibited. Some restrictions may apply. See Pick It Bowl Challenge website for complete contest rules.

Tuesday, December 24

Offices will close early at 2 p.m. for Christmas Eve.

Wednesday, December 25

Offices will be closed in observation of Christmas holiday.  Our regular office hours will resume on Thursday, December 26.

Tuesday, December 31

Offices will close early at 2 p.m. for New Year’s Eve.

Wednesday, January 1

Offices will be closed in observation of New Year’s holiday.  Our regular office hours will resume on Thursday, January 2.

Emergency 24 hour repair will remain available.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Paul Bunyan Communications!

Paul Bunyan Television 24-hour Yule Log channel has returned for the holiday season and is available to all PBTV subscribers on channel 99.

“Every year we would get calls wondering where the Yule Log programming may be.  Various networks have provided it in the past and some still do but how long and when varied.  It was hard for us to provide that answer. So our staff created a Yule Log channel for our television customers to have 24/7 throughout the holiday season,” said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

The PBTV Yule Log channel will air through at least January 3.

The GigaZone Gaming Championship and TechXpo, a Paul Bunyan Communications event, will return on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at the Sanford Center in Bemidji. The event is now one of the largest rural gaming and technology expositions in the United States and recognized nationally within the broadband industry for its innovative way to showcase the cooperative’s all-fiber optic network while engaging with the gaming community and anyone interested in technology.

“Last year was another awesome experience.  We had close to 4,000 came out for this one-of-a-kind event.  There were more gaming opportunities than ever before, Danielle Feinberg from Pixar Animation Studios was our special guest,and over 25 exhibitors were on hand demonstrating their use of technology to thousands of potential students, customers, and employees. It was an amazing day and we are excited to bring it back again on April 12.” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

The GigaZone Gaming Championship will feature free gaming on various console and arcade games, numerous tournaments, door prizes, and more. There is no cost to enter the tournaments or for any of the gaming.  Tournament details will be posted on the GigaZone Gaming Discord, Twitch channel, and Facebook page as well as www.gigazonegaming.com  New this year will be the GigaZone Gaming High School Invitational, a Rocket League tournament exclusively for school sanctioned High School esports teams.  Schools interested should contact Fenworks at https://fenworks.com/contact-us/

The GigaZone TechXpo will expose a growing regional audience to technology innovation and help them turn their technical skills and enthusiasm into successful careers right here northern Minnesota. Start-ups and companies creatively leveraging technology will be able to demonstrate their innovation to a large group of tech-savvy potential employees. Educators and educational institutions can have their tech-oriented students show off projects and promote the technology training programs they have to offer. There is no cost to be an exhibitor but space is limited and the exhibit must creatively display the use of technology. Applications will open January 3 with a deadline to apply by February 28, 2025 at www.gigazonetechxpo.com

This one-of-a-kind event showcases Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT and web development team, which custom-built and integrated much of the online technology being used and leverages the speed of the GigaZone, one of the largest rural all-fiber optic gigabit networks in the country. The entire gaming event is run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.

“Our cooperative continues to expand our advanced fiber network that brings many advantages to our members including extreme speed and low latency, which are critical for the best online gaming experience. The GigaZone Gaming Championship showcases just that,” added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Chief Technology Officer.

“It is the biggest rural gaming event I’m aware of and the TechXpo makes a lot of connections to potential careers. Many of the exhibitors were able to attract new employees, students, and/or customers through the event.  I don’t think people realize just how innovative our schools and businesses are and how they implement the latest technology into their operations or education curriculum. The TechXpo is a showcase for that in a personal, interactive, and exciting way,” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners, including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, and the Sanford Center, as well as support from several regional and national partners.

Paul Bunyan Communications is expanding its all-fiber optic network the GigaZone®, to over 2,200 locations this year in Koochiching, Itasca, St. Louis, and Aitkin County this year.  Visit www.gigazone.com to see if your location is included, get more information, and sign up!

Itasca County expansion includes the city of Taconite, the city of Keewatin, and an area of the Greenway Township east of the city of Calumet.  Construction is completed and services are now available in all 3 expansion areas.

St. Louis County expansion includes the city of Buhl and over 240 locations in the Forbes area southwest of Eveleth.  Construction is completed and services are now available in the Forbes Area.  The fiber splicing phase is underway in the city of Buhl with service installations anticipated to begin in December.

Aitkin County expansion includes an area of Aitkin Township and an unorganized township northwest of the city of Aitkin, an area of Ball Bluff, Cornish, and Verdon Townships south of the city of Jacobson and areas of Kimberly, Spencer, Jevne, Flemming, and Morrison Townships between Aitkin and McGregor.  Construction is completed and the project is now in the fiber splicing phase.  Service installations in all these areas are expected to begin over the winter once the network is operational.

Koochiching County expansion includes areas of Lindford, Ericsburg, and Pelland south of International Falls.  Construction is completed and services are now available.

Anyone interested in getting connected to the all-fiber optic broadband network should sign up for service now.  That can be done online, over the phone, or in person at our Grand Rapids Customer Service & Technology Center or Cooperative Headquarters in Bemidji.

The cooperative’s services will become available once the network is operational including GigaZone® Internet with its unprecedented broadband speeds of up to 10 Gig and low cost unlimited local and long distance GigaZone® voice telephone service.  There is no membership fee to join Paul Bunyan Communications, membership is included by subscribing to either local phone service or GigaZone® Internet service.

Come celebrate the season with your local cooperative at our Holiday Open House on Friday, December 13 from 10-2 at our offices in Bemidji and Grand Rapids.

Enjoy hot apple cider and cookies plus pick up the 2024 collector ornament and 2025 calendars while supplies last!

Our offices will be closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29 in observation of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Our regular office hours will resume on Monday, December 2.

Emergency 24 hour repair will remain available.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paul Bunyan Communications has been awarded a $3.9 million State of Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Low-Population Density Grant to serve areas of Alango, Field, and Sturgeon Townships in St Louis County.

The Low-Population Density Program will fund up to 75% of eligible project costs to help providers build out broadband infrastructure in some of the more remote or costly-to-serve areas of the state with the cooperative investing the remainder to expand its all-fiber optic network to these areas.

The Alango, Field, and Sturgeon Townships are west and southwest of the city of Cook. This project will include a total of 420 locations with a total cost of $6,023,265.  Funders in addition to the State of Minnesota include St. Louis County Broadband Infrastructure- $400,000, IRRRB Broadband Infrastructure-$400,000, Alango Township-$41,200, Field Township-$17,800, Sturgeon Township-$40,000, and Paul Bunyan Communications-$1,200,108.

“We are thrilled to continue our expansion efforts, bringing high-speed broadband access to underserved areas in our region. While our cooperative has a strong history of expanding our network to underserved communities, it has become more challenging to do so independently without grant assistance due to the costs involved and low density of population in these rural areas. Thanks to the Low Population Density Grant program, we will now be able to extend our services to these areas, providing broadband speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second and making them part of one of the largest rural Gigabit networks in the nation,” said Chad Bullock, Paul Bunyan Communications incoming CEO/General Manager.

Paul Bunyan Communications expects to develop the expansion plans over the next year and will contact locations along the upcoming expansion routes once those plans are finalized and before construction starts.

“We are excited to receive this grant! It will bring symmetrical fiber-optic broadband to highly rural areas that are in critical need of it. This will be a game changer for these residents and businesses,” said Leo Anderson, Chief Technology Officer of Paul Bunyan. “We are grateful to the State of Minnesota for launching this low-density pilot grant program, which makes this expansion possible. We also extend our thanks to St. Louis County, the IRRRB, the impacted townships for their financial support, and our state officials who have championed funding for the Border-to-Border broadband grant program.”