Rank: 52
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Waseca County: stalled at 75 percent broadband access
Waseca County has been stalled at 75 percent access for several years. The good news is that Midco has extended gig access to parts of Le Sueur, Steele, Blue Earth, Freeborn, Waseca and Dodge Counties. The difficult news is that Waseca County is centered in an area that is in line for federal funding but whose potential recipient has stirred controversy.
LTD Broadband was awarded the opportunity to submit a long form to get federal funding (RDOF) to deploy FTTH throughout much of Minnesota, including parts of Waseca County. So they are in a sticky situation where they don’t know if LTD will get the funding, they don’t know if LTD will succeed if they do and they don’t know if they will qualify for federal or start funding because of the potential RDOF award.
Waseca County will benefit from a few MN State Grants awarded in 2021:
BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telecom, Inc.) – Rural Morristown Fiber Expansion Project – GRANT $210,692 This last mile project will serve approximately 14 unserved and 94 underserved locations in portions of Rice, Waseca, and Steele counties.
Projected allocation of American Recovery Project ARP funds in Waseca is $3,609,683; broadband is one possible use.
Waseca County has the opportunity to invest in broadband with federal funding. That would help them reach ubiquitous broadband. They may have providers that might help make that happen. They are a yellow code community.
Broadband Access:
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 75.02 | 75.34 | 75.2 | 75.06 | 98.75 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 78.65 | 83.92 | 82.19 | 75.3 | 98.75 |
| 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% |
| Waseca | 87.4 | 73.7 | 5.5 | 58.6 |
Past grant:
None
Checklist:
- Find more articles on broadband in Waseca County (http://tinyurl.com/z845jwy)
- 100/20 Mbps ranking: 52 (down 7)
- Has worked with Blandin: yes
- Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
- Household density: 17.15
Details:
- Districts: CD 1
Senate: 23, 24
House: 23B, 24A - 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)
Blandin on Broadband 