Rank: 25
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Clay County: consistent, incremental improvements over years
Clay County ranks 25 (down from 20) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Clay County has 90.72 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 1874 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $17.4 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.
| County | Residential Location Density | number of residential locations | ≥ 100 Mbps Download/20 Mbps Upload Speeds | unserved households | Cost to close gap |
| Clay | 19.2 | 20,173 | 90.71 | 1874 | 17428200 |
Clay County has seen a dip in ranking and percentage of access since last year. That is likely because of map correction, but it is frustrating. 702 Communications got $2.6 million in December 2022 in Border to Border funding to serve 369 households, businesses, and farms in rural Clay County. Red River Communications has two applications in the current round of Border to Border grants, which should be decided early in 2024.
Clay County residents were awarded 21 line extension funding requests, which means state funding will subsidize last mile broadband extension to their homes.
Clay County gets a green ranking because they have 90 percent coverage and it appears as if they are actively seeking improvement.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 90.71 | 92.06 | 89.08 | 87.57 | 82.32 | 82.52 | 74.13 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 96.75 | 95.56 | 95.66 | 90.31 | 95.82 | 95.45 | 83.15 |
Grants
- 2022: 702 Communications – Western Clay County Kragnes Township– GRANT $2,624,830
- 2019: Arvig (Loretel Systems, Inc.) – Cormorant Lakes Area Project – GRANT $430,780
Find more articles on broadband in Clay County. (http://tinyurl.com/hcgg9rm)
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.
