Norman County is likely to meet the state speed goals for 2022 but not for 2026. They are in a precarious position because they are well situated for access to 25/3 and have dismal access to 100/20. In order to not be left behind by 2026 they’ll have to work hard against a false sense of accomplishment.

In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) included Norman County as one of the few non-competitive counties in Minnesota for broadband access; which means half the locations with demand for the services don’t have a competitive provider located within at least half a mile, or 75 percent of the census blocks don’t have the presence of a cable provider.

Norman County does not have many wired providers, but they do have a few that offer 2026 speeds (Garden Valley Telephone Company and Halstad Telephone Company). They will need to work to get these providers to expand service or work with others to upgrade their service to meet the needs of the county.

Checklist:

• 100/20 ranking: 85 (down from 80)
• 25/3 ranking: 12
• Has worked with Blandin: no
• Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
• Household density: 3.3
• Number of providers: 4

Details:

• Find more articles on broadband in Norman County (http://tinyurl.com/zs7nuqj)
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 04
  House: 04B
• 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)