Rank: 46
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Mower County incremental improvement
Mower County ranks 46 (down 9) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 83.61 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2455 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $22.8 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 |
| Mower | 21.0 | 14,976 | 83.61 | 2455 | 22831500 |
Mower County has had steady, incremental growth for a few years. Then they ran into a road block.
LTD Broadband was awarded the opportunity to submit a long form to get federal funding (RDOF) to deploy FTTH throughout much of Minnesota, including parts of Mower County. The potential RDOF award meant Le Sueur’s state grant application was no longer eligible for other funding. In 2023, the federal funders disqualifies LTD Broadband from receiving funding and the MN Public Utilities Commission is looking at revoking the ETC designation they needed to qualify for funding.
Mower County has demonstrated an interest in engaging and investing in broadband so they maintain their yellow code. But Mower County has demonstrated an interest in engaging and investing in broadband so they maintain their yellow code. Both Arvig and Spectrum have applied for funds in the latest (open) round of Border to Border grants but won’t know the results until early 2024.
Broadband Access:
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 83.61 | 83.25 | 84.95 | 79.03 | 78.56 | 23.31 | 90.2 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 87.37 | 88.91 | 90.13 | 81.14 | 85.22 | 78.47 | 94.78 |
Grants:
- MN State Grant awarded in 2021: KMTelecom – Rock Dell Southwest Fiber Build – GRANT $404,709 This last mile project will serve approximately 96 unserved households, 70 farms and five unserved businesses in rural Vernon Township in Dodge County and Sargeant Township in Mower County.
Find more articles on broadband in Mower County (http://tinyurl.com/j9sr5gf)
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.
