Rank: 40
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Aitkin County sees great gains in 2022

Aitkin County went from ranking 77 last year to 40 in 2023. They have gone from 60.36 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up in 2022 to 93.96 percent coverage in 2023. They have 2100 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $19.5 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

In 2022, Aitkin County worked with  Blandin Foundation as an IRBC (Iron Range Broadband Community) and they were cohorts in Blandin’s inaugural Accelerate! program, a process to spur community acquisition and deployment of federal and state broadband funds.

In November 2022, the Mille Lacs Messenger reported that an $4.8 million broadband construction would be completed in fall of 2023. In December 2022, Paul Bunyan Communications shared more about a Minnesota State Border to Border funded project that would expand broadband to Aitkin, Itasca and St Louis Counties. And in June 2023, Paul Bunyan reported broadband expansion in Grand Rapids, Warba, Marble, Calumet and Waukenabo Township in  Aitkin County.  SCI was awarded a almost $800,000 from a Border to Border grant to serve 199 locations in the townships of Balsam, Logan, Spalding, Turner and Workman. Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative has two applications for Border to Border grants in to the Office of Broadband Development; decision should be announced Winter 2024.

Aitkin County residents were awarded 65 line extension funding requests, which means state funding will subsidize last mile broadband extension to their homes.

In the past, a roadblock for Aitkin was that the county is widely served by a national provider that has not been upgrading the connections in their area. It seems that is becoming less of a hindrance.

Aitkin is getting an optimistic green code after significant improvement in the last year and greater interest from the County and area providers.

Broadband Access:

Grants:

• 2023: SCI – Aitkin County Broadband Expansion – GRANT $794,822
• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative, $1,231,818.00
• Paul Bunyan Communications, $3,052,120.00 (also serves Itasca and Louis)
• $4.8 million block grant McGrath Project that is scheduled to be completed by fall 2023

• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative Phase 4 FTTH – GRANT $198,607. This fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project will serve 80 unserved and five underserved locations along the southeast side of Farm Island Lake in Aitkin County. Through a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, MLEC will bring 1 Gbps speeds to 84 homes and one business on the fiber route, exceeding the State’s 2022 and 2026 speed goals.
• 2017 – SCI – Shamrock Township Broadband Expansion – GRANT $148,503
• 2016 – MILLE LACS ENERGY COOPERATIVE FTTP PROJECT – GRANT: $1,757,640
• 2020 – Emily Cooperative Telephone Company – Round Lake Fiber Project – GRANT $376,000
• 2020 Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – MLEC Phase 3 FTTH Project with CTC – GRANT $1,253,955
• 2020: SCI Broadband (Savage Communications Inc.) – Glen Township Broadband Expansion Project – GRANT $195,848

Find more articles on broadband in Aitkin County. (http://tinyurl.com/hdqdmhr)

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)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on Oct 31, 2023. Red dots represent locations unserved with wireline broadband; the Orange dots represent underserved locations. The map on the right comes from the FCC National Broadband map showing access to wired and licensed fixed wireless access, the darker the color, the greater percentage of broadband coverage.