Rank: 23
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Kittson County: gaining traction
Kittson County ranks 23 (up 4 poimts) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 92.69 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 137 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $534,000 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 |
| Kittson | 1.7 | 1,873 | 92.69 | 137 | 534300 |
Kittson County saw small increases in access until 2022 but their progress is continuing. In December 2022, Wikstron Telephone was awarded a $665,699 Border to Border award serving Beltrami, Kittson, Lake of the Woods and Marshall. In 2023, Wikstron got another grant of $2.5 million to serve rural, sparsely populated areas in Kittson and Marshall counties in far northwest Minnesota, passing 199 homes, businesses and farms. And Wikstrom has applied for a grants i the latest Border to Border broadband grant round, which is still open but winner should be announced in early 2024.
Kittson seems to be gaining traction with local provider partnership, which should serve them well when federal funding (BEAD) becomes available but they retain their yellow ranking for now.
Broadband Access:
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 92.69 | 87.57 | 80.13 | 80.11 | 74.99 | 71.38 | 3.46 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 92.69 | 87.71 | 80.2 | 80.11 | 74.99 | 71.38 | 65.62 |
Grants:
- 2023: Wikstrom Telephone Company – Wiktel NW MN Broadband 2023 – GRANT $2,531,488
- 2022: Wikstrom Telephone Co. Inc, $665,699.00 (serving Beltrami, Kittson, Lake of the Woods and Marshall)
- 2017 – Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband – GRANT $1,307,785
- 2016 – WIKSTROM TELEPHONE COMPANY WIKTEL NW MN – GRANT: $950,823
- 2014 – Wikstrom Telephone, Kittson, Marshall, Roseau Broadband Extension – Award $425,000
- 2019 Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband Project – GRANT $1,151,526
Find more articles on broadband in Kittson. (https://bit.ly/2kcNnpz)
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.
