Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved
Rank (from 100/20 megabits per second): 25
Code: Yellow
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.
Steele County: Decent coverage but not much community engagement
Steele County has not worked with the Blandin Foundation. They have never received a MN Border to Border grant. They are home to Jaguar Communications, which probably helps with the level of broadband that they have. Jaguar was acquired in June (2020), which may have an impact on the community. The population density in the county is quite good so there may be a business case to serve the area. If not, they may need to think about infrastructure from a community perspective to encourage more broadband.
Broadband Access:
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 87.05 | 86.86 | 56.16 | 95.64 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 88.29 | 88.44 | 87.79 | 99.86 |
| 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% |
| Steele | 87.6% | 76.6% | 69.6% | 55.6% | 4.5% |
What we learned in the past:
Steele County has not worked with the Blandin Foundation. They have never received a MN Border to Border grant.
Update from 2020:
Part of Steele County was served by Jaguar, which was acquired by MetroNet in July (2020). MetroNet claims they will invest $150 million to grow their Minnesota market.
Checklist:
- Find more articles on broadband in Steele County (http://tinyurl.com/zd4qhbu)
- 100/20 Mbps ranking: 25 (down 3)
- Has worked with Blandin: no
- Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
- Household density: 33.1
Details:
- Districts: CD 1
Senate: 24, 27
House: 24A, 24B, 27A - 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)
