Looking at the numbers, Le Sueur is not poised to meet the state broadband speed goals for 2022 or 2026. But looking at recent activity in the county, I’m tempted to bump them up to code yellow, or maybe create a code orange.
They are moving forward with a plan and a local provider to apply for a MN broadband grant. If they get that grant, they will be well poised to meet the goals.
| Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date | |||
| Le Sueur | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 70.33 | 70.65 | 82.78 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 79.91 | 72.68 | 71.16 |
Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved
Le Sueur benefited from one state grant:
- 2016 – ECKLES TELEPHONE COMPANY (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL HEIDELBERG– GRANT: $188,000
Serving 51 unserved households, 7 unserved businesses, 40 underserved households, and 4 underserved businesses in the rural Heidelberg area in Le Sueur County with service levels to 1 Gigabit.
In summer 2018, Le Sueur hosted a broadband conference that spurred a chain reaction. They got local policymakers interested in broadband, and they got an opportunity to workshop a broadband plan at Blandin Foundation’s annual broadband conference. That led to feasibility study in 2019 that in turn developed into a relationship with Bevcomm and collaboration on a MN state broadband application; the County Commissioners have committed funds to support the application.
Le Sueur County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Jaguar and BEVCOMM applied to upgrade service in Le Sueur. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)
Checklist:
- 100/20 ranking: 52
- 25/3 ranking: 58
- Has worked with Blandin: yes
- Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
- Household density: 22.7
- Number of providers: 13
Details:
- Find more articles on broadband in Le Sueur County (http://tinyurl.com/jbg7ghy)
- Districts: CD 1
Senate: 19, 20, 23
House: 19A, 20A, 20B, 23B - 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)
Blandin on Broadband 