Rank: 82
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Todd County: on bottom 10 list for broadband
Working with the Blandin Foundation, Todd County has been focused on better broadband for a long time. They have benefited from MN Border to Border grants. In May 2019, CTC announced plans to build out to Todd County, which is likely the cause of the increase in access to 100/20 Mbps. They work hard but they run into barriers but there are some opportunities
Todd County will benefit from a few MN State Grants awarded in 2021:
- Arvig (Tekstar Communications, Inc.) – Lake Osakis, Sauk Lake & Smith Lake Project – GRANT $486,458 This middle and last mile project will upgrade approximately 230 unserved and 39 underserved locations in Todd and Douglas counties.
- Sytek Communications – Morrison/Todd/Stearns County FTTP Project – GRANT $1,048,668 This last mile project will bring service to 130 locations in Southwest Morrison, Southeastern Todd and Northeastern Stearns counties.
Projected allocation of American Recovery Project ARP funds in Todd is $4,783,431; broadband is one possible use.
Todd County may benefit from intervention, such as the Blandin Accelerate program, a process to spur community acquisition and deployment of federal and state broadband funds, to find an alternative solution especially with state and federal funding on the horizon. They are a code red community.
Broadband Access:
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 49.93 | 49.12 | 38.68 | 17.58 | 2.86 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 77.01 | 53.73 | 71.91 | 67.96 | 46.01 |
| 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% |
| Todd | 82.5 | 67.5 | 8.4 | 46.8 |
Past grant:
- 2017 – WCTA (West Central Telephone Association) – Northern Todd County – GRANT $902,695
- 2014 – Arvig (Mainstreet Communications LLC), Sauk Lake area $
- 2019: WCTA (West Central Telephone Association) – Rural Staples Phase I Project – GRANT $555,355
Checklist:
- Find more articles on broadband in Todd County (http://tinyurl.com/gl47tgq)
- 100/20 Mbps ranking: 82 (down 3)
- Has worked with Blandin: yes
- Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
- Household density: 9.99
Details:
- Districts: CD 7
Senate: 09
House: 09A, 09B - 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)
