Rank:  58
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Douglas County: Slow improvement but need more engagement to sprint

Douglas County ranks 58 for broadband access and 25 for digital equity out of 87 counties. Douglas has seen incremental gains up to 74.59 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up in 2022. They have 5532 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $51.4 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Douglas County will benefit from a border to border grant announced in December 2022:

• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association, $1,212,337.50

They will also benefit from a ReConnect grant:

• Tekstar Communications $12,602,274
  This Rural Development investment will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 3,113 people, 171 farms, 103 businesses and a school to high-speed internet in Douglas, Otter Tail, St. Louis, Stearns and Todd counties in Minnesota.

Douglas County has historically down well with border to border grants because they have a few providers that are engaged. But there doesn’t appear to be much happening within the community. They are getting a yellow code because of the lack of community involvement and the slow approach with local providers.

Broadband Access:

Digital Equity:

Douglas County ranks 15 out of 87 for digital equity. (See full Digital Equity Profile)

Douglas County ranks 25 out of 87 for computer ownership. 92.9 percent of homes have a computer of device as compared to statewide ownership of 95.5 percent.

Past grants:

• 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Country Estates FTTH Project – GRANT $101,624
• 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Pospisil Drive FTTH Project – GRANT $54,155
• 2016 – GARDONVILLE COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE DOUGLAS COUNTY LAKE LOUISE – GRANT: $68,240
• 2016 – RUNESTONE TELEPHONE HOLMES CITY 2 — GRANT: $700,674
• 2015 – Runestone Telephone Association – Holmes City – Grant award: $189,990
• 2019: Charter Communications – Lake Carlos Project – GRANT $74,540
• 2019: Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Krohnfeldt Drive FTTH Project – GRANT $42,921
• 2019: Runestone Telecom Association – South Alexandria Project – GRANT $1,760,423
• 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.
• Charter Communications (Spectrum) – West Lake Carlos – GRANT $24,450
  This middle and last mile project will serve approximately 42 unserved households on the west side of Lake Carlos in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – County Road 34 FTTH Project – GRANT $1,551,370 This last mile project will serve 71 unserved and 544 underserved locations in Ida and Carlos townships in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – Hazel Hill Road FTTH Project – GRANT $692,929 This middle and last mile project will serve 212 unserved households, 79 unserved businesses and one unserved farm in Alexandria Township in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – Town Hall Road FTTH Project – GRANT $90,251 This last mile project will serve 46 unserved and 3 underserved locations in La Grand Township in Douglas County

Checklist:

• Find more articles on broadband in Douglas County. (http://tinyurl.com/jqpohsc)
• 100/20 Mbps ranking: 58 (down 2 places)
• Has worked with Blandin: no
• Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
• Household density: 30.2

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)