In 2014, less than 25 percent of Pine County had access to broadband. (Broadband was defined with lower speeds back then.) Today 40 percent of the county has access to broadband speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and only 37 percent have access to the 2026 speed goals of 100/20.

They are part of the regional effort – the East Central Broadband Initiative. They have had visits from interested politicians (Rep Thissen) in to talk about broadband. The broadband access they have is good,  but with less than half of the county having access it clearly isn’t enough. It would be nice to find a way to extend the coverage they have.

Pine County is in line to receive $3,911,753 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 7769 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: 40.12
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 37.37

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 54.13 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Pine County (http://tinyurl.com/ha8burg)                   
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects.
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 11
  House: 11A, 11B

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!