Rank: 5
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Lac Qui Parle (LqP) County: nearly perfect
LqP County ranks 5 (down one) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 2 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $7800 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 |
| Lac qui Parle | 4.2 | 3,279 | 99.94 | 2 | 7800 |
LqP has had more than 99 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since we started tracking. They have slipped in ranking but what that really means is that other counties are catching up.
Broadband Access:
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 99.94 | 99.86 | 99.83 | 99.57 | 97.35 | 97.35 | 99.36 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 99.94 | 99.86 | 99.84 | 99.57 | 97.35 | 97.35 | 99.36 |
Grants:
- 2009, Blandin Foundation funded a feasibility study for LqP County and Farmers Telephone Cooperative. The feasibility study’s engineering, operational, and market development plans were later used to support the partners’ successful ARRA funding
- 2010 The county and Farmers were awarded a $9.6 million ARRA award
- 2017 – Farmers Mutual Telephone – City of Watson and SW Lac qui Parle County FTTP – GRANT $760,501
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
Find more articles on broadband in Lac qui Parle. (http://tinyurl.com/zc2tfay)
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.
