Rank: 62
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Nicollet County: stagnant since 2019
Nicollet County ranks 69 (down 9 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 76.25 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2690 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $25 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 |
| Nicollet | 24.3 | 11,328 | 76.25 | 2690 | 25017000 |
Nicollet County saw a nice leap in access in 2019 but have been stagnant at 78 percent or less coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. Their access decreased last year, likely due to increased granularity of reporting and are within an acceptable margin of error. There’s more decrease this year, perhaps reflective mapping challenges or corrections.
In December 2022, Nuvera Communications received $479,011 in Border to Border funding to serve 23 unserved and 68 underserved locations in the Nicollet County. In July 2023, Nicollet celebrating gig access through Fidium.
Nicollet’s ranking has dropped from yellow to red due to sustained stagnation.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 76.25 | 77.29 | 78.49 | 78.29 | 78.42 | 33.29 | 54.54 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 85.19 | 86.83 | 83.87 | 83.67 | 82.68 | 83.91 | 86.1 |
Past grant:
- 2022: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – Nicollet County RTF DTF FTTP – GRANT $479,011 (Learn more)
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile = Grant award: $808,080
- MN State Grant awarded in 2021: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – New Ulm HDT 202 FTTP – GRANT $444,386 This last mile project north of New Ulm will serve approximately 80 unserved and 67 underserved locations in Nicollet County.
Find more articles on broadband in Nicollet County (http://tinyurl.com/h3zwpbd)
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.
