Anoka County is in position to potentially meet state broadband speed goals. They rank #18 in terms of broadband access at speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and rank #7 at speeds of 100/20. The county is well covered thanks at least in part to government funding.

Anoka County was the recipient of ARRA funding, which helped to fund a 287-mile broadband network that includes connecting 145 government locations. Recently, Benton Cooperative Telephone received Border to Border State funding for a broadband project that will serve 122 unserved households and 5 unserved businesses in rural Ramey. And Anoka is in line to receive $183,316 in CAF 2 funding for 861 locations. (CAF 2 only requires upgrades to 10/1 access.)

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Anoka ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 97.56
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 96.10

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Anoka ranked:

Ranked fifth – with a DDI score of 16.32 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Anoka County. (http://tinyurl.com/zuvt4x7)
• Districts: CD 6
  Senate: 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41
  House: 31A, 31B, 35A, 35B, 36A, 36B, 37A, 37B, 38A, 41A, 41B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!