Rank: 56
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Otter Tail County: recent progress but needs more

Otter Tail County ranks 56 (up 8 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 77.72 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 7564 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $70.3 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

They have seen slow. incremental improvement since 2020 but have seen a nice bump up in the last year. In December 2022, East Otter Tail Telephone was awarded $1.1 million in Border to Border grant to reach 171 unserved and 100 underserved households, farms and businesses in the southeastern portion of Otter Tail County near the rural parts of Battle Lake, Henning, Parkers Prairie and Urbank and Otter Tail Telephone received $3.4 million to serve a total of 1,186 locations comprised of 495 unserved households; 334 underserved households; 245 unserved businesses, farms, and community anchor institutions; and 112 underserved businesses, farms, and community anchor institutions in the North Fergus Falls area. In 2023, Otter Tail Telecom received another $2.3 million to serve a total of 506 households, businesses, farms, and community anchor institutions in the South Battle Lake.

Otter Tail County residents were awarded 21 line extension funding requests, which means state funding will subsidize last mile broadband extension to their homes.

With all of recent activity, Otter Tail has shifted from red to yellow ranking.

Grants:

• 2023: Otter Tail Telcom – South Battle Lake – GRANT $2,331,792
• 2022: East Otter Tail Telephone Co. dba Arvig, $1,140,704.90
• 2022: Otter Tail Telcom, LLC, $3,381,661.00 (Learn more)

• 2017 – Arvig – Pelican Rapids rural non-ACAM – GRANT $633,642
• 2017 – Otter Tail Telcom LLC – Red Oak Drive – GRANT $173,683
• 2017 – WCTA (West Central Telephone Association) – Wadena Rural Phase III – GRANT $874,581
• 2016 – OTTER TAIL TELCOM BATTLE LAKE – GRANT: $ 238,170
• 2016 – OTTER TAIL TELCOM FERGUS FALLS AREA – GRANT: $ 279,271
• 2016 – WCTA WADENA RURAL NORTH — GRANT: $718,850
• 2015 – Otter Tail Telcom Fergus Falls 864 – Hwy 59 – Grant award: $295,432
• 2015 – Otter Tail Telcom Hwy 59/94 PRT to POM – Grant award: $164,207
• 2014 – Otter Tail Telcom, Stuart Lake – Award: $105,364.
• 2014 – Otter Tail Telcom, 245th – Award: $108,553.
• 2019: Otter Tail Telcom LLC – Long and Fish Lakes Project – GRANT $156,954
• 2019: Arvig (Loretel Systems, Inc.) – Cormorant Lakes Area Project – GRANT $430,780

Find more articles on Otter Tail County https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=otter+tail&submit=Search

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.