Rank: 31
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Itasca County: recent grant will help improve access
Itasca County ranks 31 for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 88.39 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2806 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $26 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 |
| Itasca | 8.3 | 24,169 | 88.39 | 2806 | 26095800 |
Itasca County is home to the Blandin Foundation and the community is engaged in broadband development; in early 2022, they looked at the local digital divide before and after/during COVID pandemic.
They have hovered around 85 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since 2019. In 2023, Paul Bunyan Telephone was awarded $10 million in ReConnect funds for networks in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties. That should help close some gaps but not to the point of earning a green versus yellow ranking.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 88.39 | 85.5 | 86.65 | 84.14 | 83.06 | 79.44 | 76.35 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 94.6 | 92.85 | 93.03 | 87.67 | 93.12 | 86.15 | 78.92 |
Grants:
- 2023: Paul Bunyan Telephone awarded $10 million in ReConnect funds for networks in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties
- 2017 – Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Fiber – GRANT $802,620
- 2016 MEDIACOM HARRIS TOWNSHIP – GRANT: $224,369
- 2016 – PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS HUBBARD, BECKER & ITASCA COUNTIES – GRANT: $1,742,232
- 2015 – Paul Bunyan Central Itasca County Fiber – Grant Award: $1,980,000
- Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Minnesota Fiber Project– GRANT $2,562,916
Find more articles on broadband in Itasca County. (http://tinyurl.com/grujo6t)
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.
