Paul Bunyan Communications, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program, on Monday, February 13 from 1-6 p.m. at the Lone Eagle Community Center in Ball Club.

This new long-term benefit will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to ACPBenefit.org to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Affordable Connectivity Program Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

If you are a gamer, be sure to join the GigaZone Gaming Discord page!  GigaZone Gaming Discord Page

It has everything from GigaZone Game Nights to gaming clips where you can post your own stream plus a self promotion channel where you can post your links to get more followers.

Plus you can keep up to date on the GigaZone Gaming Championship and TechXpo coming April 22 to the Sanford Center in Bemidji, a Paul Bunyan Communications event!  GigaZone Gaming Championship   GigaZone TechXpo

Game with us!  Join the GigaZone Gaming Discord page today

Paul Bunyan Communications has been awarded a Border-to-Border Broadband Grant from the state of Minnesota to expand its fiber optic services to portions of Ball Bluff, Bearville, Cornish, French, Pike, Sandy, Verdon and Wuori Townships in Aitkin, Itasca and St Louis Counties.

As a result, the cooperative is expected to begin expansion construction to these areas in 2024. This all-fiber optic project will pass a minimum of 1,035 locations.  The project is estimated to cost $7.63 million, with the State of Minnesota Border to Border grant contributing $3.05 million and Paul Bunyan Communications and local townships investing $4.58 million.

PBC 2022 Border-to-Border Grant Area for Aitken County  

PBC 2022 Border-to-Border Grant Area for Britt Area of Itasca County    

PBC 2022 Border-to-Border Grant Area for Side Lake area of St. Louis County

“This is huge for our region.  Access to quality broadband service is vital to so many different facets of life including health care, education, business, and recreation.  It is why I co-authored the bill to fund the Border-to-Border Grant Program in 2022 which resulted in a record $67.6 million investment. I applaud all those involved with supporting the effort to secure this grant so we can keep our rural communities thriving and vibrant.” said State 3A Representative Rob Ecklund.

“We are excited to continue our expansion efforts to provide access to broadband Internet speeds to those without it in our region.  Our cooperative has a long history of expanding our network to underserved areas but it has become increasingly challenging to go it alone without grant support.  These areas will now not only get Broadband access, they will go from slow satellite or dial up Internet to speeds of up to a 10 Gigabits per second and become part of one of the largest rural Gigabit networks in the country,” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications 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 in spring of 2024. The entire project will be completed by June 30, 2025.

“We are very excited about this project!  This is going to bring symmetrical fiber-optic broadband to very rural locations that desperately need it.  This will be a game changer for the residents in these areas.” added Steve Howard, Paul Bunyan Communications Information Technology and Development Manager.  “We are thankful to the leaders of French, Pike, Sandy, and Wuori Townships who are also providing financial support to this project,” said Howard.

“I salute the hard work of our elected officials who championed the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program and thank the Office of Broadband Development that oversees the program.  This is going to make a world of difference in so many ways to a lot of people right here in northern Minnesota!” said Johnson.

Cooperative’s services will become available once the network is operational including GigaZone^™, service options like unprecedented Broadband Internet speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second and low cost unlimited local and long distance GigaZone^™ voice 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.

The Deer River Warriors have advanced to the semifinals of the Class A State Football Tournament and will play Springfield this Saturday, Nov 19 at 9 a.m. at US Bank Stadium!

The game will not be televised but can be seen online at https://nspn.tv/MSHSL for a fee or it can be heard on KMFY, 96.9 FM which is also on PBTV channel 968, PBTV Fusion channel 1068 or online at https://www.kozyradio.com/

The winner advances to the Class A State Finals on Friday, December 2 at 10 a.m. at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Good luck Warriors from all of us at Paul Bunyan Communications!

Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager Gary Johnson was recently awarded the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award from Minnesota State University Moorhead!

Gary graduated with a degree in computer science from MSUM in 1988 and was hired by the cooperative as a computer programmer that same year.  Over the years he took on additional responsibilities and leadership roles to become Chief Operating Officer in 2000 and then was named CEO/General Manger in 2012.

Congratulations Gary!

Go paperless! Sign up by October 31 to receive your bill by e-mail and receive a one time $5 credit on your account!

Log in to your account through SmartHub then go to MY PROFILE and click MY INFORMATION. Then select UPDATE MY PAPERLESS SETTINGS and turn paperless ON.  It’s free and easy!

Paul Bunyan Communications has built one of the largest rural all-fiber optic networks in the United States that gives our members and region access to the fastest Internet speeds available.  This enables innovation, economic development, telehealth, online learning, and so much more.  A few times a year we will share the story of a member and how they utilize our broadband communications network.

Our first Member Technology Spotlight is on Bemidji Steel and their brand new state of the art facility in rural Hubbard County just south of Bemidji.  A facility that would not have been possible without our all-fiber optic network!

View on YouTube: Member Technology Spotlight Video: Bemidji Steel

Stay informed with the latest news from Paul Bunyan Communications, sign up for our e-mail newsletter the Tele U What!

It’s free and you will get the chance to enter monthly drawings for great prizes too!

Sign up here 

Join us for the Grand Rapids Chamber Taking Care of Business sponsored by Paul Bunyan Communications on Wednesday, September 28 from 4-7 p.m. at Timberlake Lodge.  Admission is FREE, you can meet new people, learn more about a wide variety of local businesses, and be sure to stop at our booth to enter a drawing for a mini iPad!!

Paul Bunyan Communications and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are promoting Lifeline Awareness Week, September 12-16.

“Access to reliable high speed Internet service is critical.  We promote the Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program a lot throughout the year and Lifeline Awareness Week is another opportunity to spread the word about these programs.  We want to make sure all of our membership and those who live within our service area know about them and the benefit they can provide.  These programs help those struggling to afford Internet services get and stay connected!” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

Lifeline is an FCC program designed to help make communications services more affordable for low-income consumers.  Lifeline provides up to a $9.25 monthly discount on qualifying voice and broadband services for eligible low-income subscribers and up to $34.25 per month for subscribers on qualifying Tribal lands.  To learn more about Lifeline, go to www.fcc.gov/lifeline-consumers or www.lifelinesupport.org/.

A new FCC program, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), is also now available to help families and households struggling to afford internet service.  The Affordable Connectivity Program provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.  Additional information about the Affordable Connectivity Program Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.  Households that qualify for Lifeline also qualify for the ACP Benefit.