Minnesota Broadband County Profiles – from Aitkin to Yellow Medicine

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For the past few weeks I have been posting broadband profiles of each county – all 87 of them! I used data from the Office of Broadband Development, based on surveys from July 2016, tracking each counties access to broadband at speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up (25/3), which is the 2022 Minnesota state speed goal and access to 100/20, which is the 2026 goal.

It’s nice to have a history of how a county has been doing and where they are heading. We’re seen some counties (Clearwater) go from least served list of 2010 to more than 99 percent coverage today and 73 percent with access to 100/20. And unfortunately we’ve seen some go the other way too – as the definition of broadband has changed their ranking and percentage of coverage has gone down. These areas need to focus on unserved and underserved areas. In some ways those are the communities I worry about most, the places where it feels like they’re OK today but they aren’t going to be tomorrow. They are like dieters who have hit their goal wait. Maintaining takes work too. Then there are the areas that are unserved – the toughest to reach, the lowest population density, often with providers who need to make business case more aggressive that an area can support to upgrade their connection. Today those folks know they need help.

Hopefully folks will find these useful. Thanks to folks who have taken the time to send me corrections and updates. Sheer plod makes plough – but doesn’t always allow for as much proofing as I’d like.

Here are links to each county:

This entry was posted in County Profiles 2017, MN by Ann Treacy. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ann Treacy

Librarian who follows rural broadband in MN and good uses of new technology (blandinonbroadband.org), hosts a radio show on MN music (mostlyminnesota.com), supports people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota (elimstrongtowershelters.org) and helps with social justice issues through Women’s March MN.

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