Rank: 76
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Cottonwood County: stuck with two thirds served
Cottonwood County ranks 76 (down 4) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Cottonwood County has 67.15 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since 2018. They have 1587 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $14.8 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 |
| Cottonwood | 7.4 | 4,831 | 67.15 | 1587 | 14759100 |
Windom, the county seat of Cottonwood County, has had an enviable municipal broadband network since 2004. Folks in Windom are well served. But outside of Windom, connections are mixed.
Broadband in Cottonwood has been stagnant since 2018. Cottonwood County maintains their red code because they have a big gap to close to get to their goal and they have been stuck in the same place since 2018.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 67.15 | 67.02 | 67.2 | 66.67 | 66.67 | 66.34 | 19.24 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 74.17 | 74.11 | 71.12 | 72.79 | 74.17 | 67.89 | 60.52 |
Grants:
- 2016 – WOODSTOCK TELEPHONE WESTBROOK – GRANT: $412,391
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
- 2010 – ARRA funding for City of Windom – SWMBG will build FTTP (Fiber to the Premise) infrastructure to eight rural communities in Southwestern Minnesota.
Find more articles on broadband in Cottonwood County. (http://tinyurl.com/gnqcknv)
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.
