Rank: 44
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Chippewa County: stagnant access just over 80 percent
Chippewa County ranks 44 (dropping one place) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Chippewa County’s percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up is 84.52). They have 728 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $6.8 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.
| Chippewa | 8.0 | 4,702 | 84.52 | 728 | 6770400 |
Chippewa County saw improvement in coverage this year, even if they dropped ranking. In December 2022, Farmers Mutual received $4.7 million to service to 636 unique locations across 10 townships in rural portions of Chippewa County. Hanson Communications has applied for the most recent round of Border to Border grants (awards should be made early 2024); if they get funding that will certainly help reach their goal.
Chippewa County is in a potentially precarious position because looking at access in Chippewa County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access (76.09 percent coverage) and wireline with fixed wireless (98.3 percent). Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless. That could make a big difference to who is eligible for BEAD funding.
Chippewa County retains their yellow ranking because it seems like efforts are being made to improve broadband but it still needs to happen.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 84.52 | 80.55 | 82.67 | 83.55 | 81.7 | 24.8 | 24.45 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 85.37 | 82.62 | 86.26 | 85.23 | 83.23 | 72.33 | 72.28 |
Grants:
- 2022: Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, $4,728,186.00
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile, Grant award: $808,080
Find more articles on broadband in Chippewa County. (http://tinyurl.com/htwz58a)
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.
