In 2014, 76 percent of Wabasha County had access to broadband. (Broadband was defined with lower speeds back then.) Today 84 percent of the county has access to broadband speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 62 percent has access to the 2026 speed goals of 100/20.

So Wabasha is gaining on the broadband goals. And they will get some help from a recent Border to Border broadband grant…

New Ulm Telecom Inc., Mazeppa – $317,761. This project will serve 87 unserved households, 11 unserved businesses and 66 underserved households in Mazeppa Township in Wabasha County. New Ulm Telecom will improve services that will benefit farms, home-based businesses, telecommuters, a USDA office, Ag Partners, Mazeppa school system, and several banking institutions and insurance companies. The total eligible project cost is $706,135, with a $388,374 local match.

Wabasha County is in line to receive $1,042,497 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1638 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: 83.59
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 61.70

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 34.78 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Wabasha County (http://tinyurl.com/gpllcg8)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects.
• Districts: CD 2
  Senate: 21
  House: 21A, 21B

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!