Rank: 53
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Kandiyohi County: they persist
Kandiyohi County has been working on better broadband for years. They saw a big improvement in 2019, but have been stagnant since. They came close to getting better broadband with CTC and a grant but that didn’t work out in the end.
Projected allocation of American Recovery Project ARP funds in Benton is $7,930,170; broadband is one possible use. They have already elected to use some in Prinsburg.
The influx of funding is an opportunity for Kandiyohi to really invest; the question is whether they can convince the whole community to buy in. For now, they remain code yellow.
Broadband Access:
2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
100/20 (2026 goal) | 74.82 | 73.78 | 72.89 | 10.64 | 8.14 |
25/3 (2022 goal) | 88.68 | 88.97 | 86.23 | 77.2 | 77.25 |
County | Households with computer | …with desktop or laptop | …with ONLY smartphone | …with a tablet et al |
State of MN | 93.6% | 80.6% | 7.7% | 63.8% |
Kandiyohi | 89.8 | 74.3 | 7.2 | 58.4 |
Past Grants:
- 2016 – FRONTIER KANDIYOHI INITIATIVE – GRANT: $1,015,275
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
- 2017, Consolidated Telecommunications Co. (CTC) was awarded a $4.94 million grant to improve serves in New London, Spicer and Willmar, and Frontier was awarded a grant of $1.02 million to improve service in rural Kandiyohi County. Unfortunately, the CTC project did not work out.
Checklist:
- Find more articles on broadband in Kandiyohi. (http://tinyurl.com/z9wk7bm)
- 100/20 Mbps ranking: 53 (down 5)
- Has worked with Blandin: yes
- Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
- Household density: 20.65
Details:
- Districts: CD 7
Senate: 17
House: 17A, 17B - 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)