Back in January (2015), the FCC upped the speed definitions for broadband to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up…

Reflecting advances in technology, market offerings by broadband providers and consumer demand, the FCC updated its broadband benchmark speeds to 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. The 4 Mbps/1 Mbps standard set in 2010 is dated and inadequate for evaluating whether advanced broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a timely way, the FCC found.

As they redefined broadband they released a report…

Using this updated service benchmark, the 2015 report finds that 55 million Americans – 17 percent of the population – lack access to advanced broadband. Moreover, a significant digital divide remains between urban and rural America: Over half of all rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.

The divide is still greater on Tribal lands and in U.S. territories, where nearly 2/3 of residents lack access to today’s speeds. And 35 percent of schools across the nation still lack access to fiber networks capable of delivering the advanced broadband required to support today’s digital-learning tools.

Here are some of the numbers…

• 17 percent of all Americans (55 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.
• 53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps.
  • By contrast, only 8 percent of urban Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband.
  • Rural America continues to be underserved at all speeds:  20 percent lack access even to service at 4 Mbps/1 Mbps, down only 1 percent from 2011, and 31 percent lack access to 10 Mbps/1 Mbps, down only 4 percent from 2011.
• 63 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands (2.5 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband
  • 85 percent living in rural areas of Tribal lands (1.7 million people) lack access.
• Americans living in rural and urban areas adopt broadband at similar rates where 25 Mbps/ 3 Mbps service is available, 28 percent in rural areas and 30 percent in urban areas.

So how does Minnesota rate?

• 13 percent of Minnesota does not have access to broadband at 25/3 Mbps
• 1 percent of urban areas do not have access
• 47 percent of rural areas do not have access
• 58 percent of tribal lands do not have access

Clearly that’s quite a gap! I’m including a map from Connect MN that show the covered areas.