Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved
Rank (from 100/20 megabits per second): 84
Code: Red
Annually, Blandin Foundation pulls together data from the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development and broadband news to gauge progress toward the state broadband goals (25 megabits per second download/3 Mbps upload by 2022 and 100 Mbps/20 Mbps by 2026). Leaders can use this information to improve broadband access and use in their communities. To see how the state is doing overall, or to compare counties, visit the Blandin Foundation interactive map. Or check out past years’ reports: 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Pine County: near bottom of the broadband ranking
Pine County has been actively seeking better broadband for years; they were part of a Blandin Broadband Communities cohort a few years ago. Unfortunately, much of Pine County is served by one large national provider. That may be a bottleneck to better access in those areas, because as we noted last year, lack of competition can impact the drive for improvement.
Broadband Access:
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 39.13 | 37.26 | 38.18 | 37.37 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 60.24 | 58.28 | 42.84 | 40.12 |
| County | Households with computer | …with desktop or laptop | …with a smartphone | …with a tablet et al | …with other |
| State of MN | 90.3% | 81.1% | 76.5% | 59.3% | 3.5% |
| Pine | 81.7% | 72.0% | 63.5% | 46.9% | 2.3% |
What we learned in the past:
Pine County partnered with rural sections of three neighboring counties to participate as the Central Woodlands in the 2015-2016 Blandin Broadband Community cohort, which means they have a focus on increasing broadband use in the community. Last year we saw that much of the County is served by one large national provider. That may be a bottleneck to better access in those areas, because as we noted last year, lack of competition can impact the drive for improvement.
Pine County has benefited from a MN broadband grant:
- 2017 – SCI (Savage Communications Inc.) — Dell Grove Township Broadband Expansion – GRANT $118,248
Update from 2020:
No broadband news from Pine County since the last broadband profile.
Checklist:
- Find more articles on broadband in Pine County (http://tinyurl.com/ha8burg)
- 100/20 Mbps ranking: 84 (down 3)
- Has worked with Blandin: yes
- Has received a MN Broadband grant
- Household density: 7.9
Details:
- Districts: CD 8
Senate: 11
House: 11A, 11B - 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)
