Jackson is a county of haves and have-nots. Broadband coverage is 69 percent for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 100/20. So those 69 percent are in good shape now and for the 2026 speed goals. But the remaining 31 percent are unserved. And 31 percent has been unserved since I last looked in 2014.

Jackson was part of an ARRA-funded project that brought FTTH to a portion of the county. And they were a Blandin Broadband Community. So they have been working on better broadband.

Given that the numbers are the same – I suspect the situation is the same I found in 2014 and show in the 2014 map below. Fiber is deployed (in orange) and wireless is available (in green) based on where the fiber exists. There are pockets of DSL. (Looks remarkably similar to the 2016 map above.)

Jackson County is in line to receive $2,448,189 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,908 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

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 Jackson County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 68.90
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 68.90

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 Jackson ranked:

DDI score of 45.71out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Jackson County. (http://tinyurl.com/h3vyqx9)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 22 & 23
  House: 22B, 23A

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!