Rank: 63
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Koochiching County: incremental increases

Koochiching County ranks 63 for broadband access and 78 for digital equity out of 87 counties. They had incremental increases for a while but leveled off this year at 72.3 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2050 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $19 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Koochiching County has been working on getting better broadband for a while. They have learned a lot about options working with the Blandin Foundation. But I haven’t seen as much lately and I haven’t seen recent increase of grant award, which is why their code has been bumped from yellow to red.

Broadband Access:

Digital Equity:

Koochiching County ranks 78 out of 87 for digital equity. (See full Digital Equity Profile)

Koochiching County ranks 71 out of 87 for computer ownership. 88.2 percent of homes have a computer of device as compared to statewide ownership of 95.5 percent.

Past grants

• 2015 – Midcontinent Little Fork Middle Mile – Grant award: $277,448
• Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Minnesota Fiber Project– GRANT $2,562,916

Checklist:

• Find more articles on broadband in Koochiching. (http://tinyurl.com/gom8mqy)
• 100/20 Mbps ranking: 63 (down 3)
• Has worked with Blandin: yes
• Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
• Household density: 2.3

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)