The task force recently released its final report. It presents both a realistic view of where Minnesota is and where we need to be headed in the next few years.

Unlike some had contended, Minnesota is no technological backwaters. When it comes to broadband access, we don't need to feel that we are anyone's poor cousin.

As the state's broadband mapping project found, 94 percent of Minnesota households have access to broadband. And the speeds the project found were nothing to be ashamed of - 2 mbps upload and 7 mbps download averages. Few, if any, other states can make that claim.

Last year, Japan (always held out as a world leader in broadband accessibility) sent a researcher to rural Minnesota to see how we were deploying fiber optics for broadband, thus enhancing economic development.

After examining a number of different models for deployment around the United States, the report found "the Minnesota model as the probable model for rural fiber" and, correspondingly, broadband deployment.

Crosslake Communications is contributing to Minnesota's strong positioning. Today, Crosslake Communications is offering broadband to 100 percent of our customers up to speeds of 5 Mbps. We have done this because of the strong commitment we have to our local community and customers. We understand how increasingly important broadband is to conducting business, educating our students, providing medical services and just living our daily lives.

We are committed to keeping pace with the rapidly advancing technologies in telecommunications. Even though providing broadband in our sparsely populated service area is two to three times more costly than in the metro area, our customers deserve access to the world just as much as those in the Twin Cities.

That's why we're willing to make the investments in our communities that are needed to provide broadband and other advanced telecommunications services.

The Ultra-high Speed Broadband Task Force did a good job in weighing all of the competing public policy obligations that the state has and came up with a good blueprint for the future. It both recognized the efforts that providers like Crosslake Communications have made to put Minnesota in a very favorable position; and it also made some aggressive recommendations for the direction that Minnesota should be going.

It recommended that the minimum speeds for all residents of the state by 2015 should be 10-20 mbps (download) and 5-10 mbps (upload).

In addition, the Task Force recommends that Minnesota aspire to be in the top five states of the United States for overall broadband speed (download/upload), in the top five states of the United States for broadband penetration, and in the top 15 when compared to countries for global broadband penetration.

Crosslake Communications applauds these goals, and we are committed to doing our part to putting Minnesota (and the community we serve) in this leadership position.

(Paul Hoge is general manager of Crosslake Communications.)