I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year.

Becker’s ranking is down from last year; from 81 to 85. It’s not a huge leap, but it’s in the wrong direction. Last year Paul Bunyan got a Minnesota Broadband Grant to improve broadband. Becker also qualifies for some of the CAF II funding.

Paul Bunyan would upgrade to FTTH and that may be the bump we see in access to 100/20. Unfortunately, the CAF II providers only need to upgrade to 10/1.

Becker County needs to get working if they want to meet the 2026 speed goals. The local residents are feeling the pinch, including one fifth grader who sent a letter to the County Commissioners asking them to do more…

Dear County Commissioners,

Hello. My name is C.M. I an in the 5th grade and 11 years old. I live on Pearl Lake Drive. Today I am writing about the lack of internet. I use the internet for my school work and I will use it a lot more as I get older. I like to play video games too. Our internet is limited and expensive. I hope you take this into consideration. We need better internet for our neighborhood.

Thank you for your time,

C.M

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 85

• Find more articles on broadband in Becker County. (http://tinyurl.com/jkah37b)
• See last year’s profile
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 02, 04
  House: 2B