Hennepin County is poised to make the 2022 and 2026 state broadband speed goals.

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Hennepin County has the distinct advantage of high population density, which makes for an easier  business case to serve than some of the more rural counties. In 2018, Hennepin County was home to the Superbowl and subsequently received a tech facelift for the US Bank Stadium and increased 5G access for much of the Twin Cities.

Hennepin County has benefited from one MN state grant…

• 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Medina 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $62,219
  Serving 22 underserved households and 12 underserved businesses with service exceeding the 2022 state speed goal of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.

While Hennepin County does enjoy great access, like all Minnesota counties, they do struggle with affordability for all users. Some providers approach that with subsidized access and some simply charge lower prices.

Hennepin County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Mediacom applied to upgrade service in Hennepin. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

• 100/20 ranking: 4 (down from 3)
• 25/3 ranking: 8
• Has worked with Blandin: no
• Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
• Household density: 784.3
• Number of providers: 17

Details:

• Find more articles on broadband in Hennepin County. (http://tinyurl.com/z9n7ea6)
• Districts: CD 4, 5 & 6
  Senate: 29, 30, 33, 34, 36, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63
  House:  29A, 30B, 33A, 33B, 34A, 34B, 36A, 36B, 40A, 40B, 41B, 44A, 44B, 45A, 45B, 46A, 46B, 48A, 48B, 49A, 49B, 50A, 50B, 59A, 59B, 60A, 60B, 61A, 61B, 62A, 62B, 63A, 63B
• Find your reps

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. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)