Koochiching County’s coverage is 68 percent at speeds of 25/3 and 100/20 (Mbps down/up) . The access they have is good, they just need more of it. In 2014, coverage was 74 percent but broadband was defined at a slower speed.

In 2015, Mediacom received $$27,448 to build out broadband middle-mile infrastructure between Little Fork and International Falls. The project was designed to bring high-speed service to 258 Internet users. Koochiching is served in part by Paul Bunyan. So upgrades in their GigaZone service will help but only in areas they serve.

Koochiching County is also in line to receive $950,823  in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,829  locations. 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 they ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 68.60
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 68.55

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 they ranked:

DDI score of 51.79 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Koochiching. (http://tinyurl.com/gom8mqy)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 03
  House: 03A

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!