In 2014, more than 65 percent of Traverse County had access to broadband. (Broadband was defined with lower speeds back then.) Today 45 percent of the county has access to broadband speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 45 percent has access to the 2026 speed goals of 100/20.

Traverse County is clear example of a have/have-not community. Folks either have good broadband or they have nothing. There are four providers in the area that offer access at speeds of 100/20 – Federated Telephone, Mediacom, Red River Communications and Runestone Telephone. It would be nice to find a way for them to extend their networks to the unserved areas.

Traverse County is in line to receive $293,728 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 352 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: 45.37
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 45.37

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 54.26 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Traverse County (http://tinyurl.com/gmvojv8)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects.
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 12
  House: 12A

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!