Rank: 7
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Pennington County: Still on top 7 list
Pennington County ranks 7 for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 99.53 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 26 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $241,800 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 |
| Pennington | 9.0 | 5,585 | 99.53 | 26 | 241800 |
In 2018, Pennington went from 9 percent access to 90 percent with the help of state (border to border) and federal loan (USDA to Garden Valley). They have had steady improvement ever since, which is why they earn a green code.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 99.53 | 99.4 | 98.19 | 96.95 | 96.18 | 90.75 | 9.63 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 99.55 | 99.4 | 99.37 | 98.53 | 97.21 | 91.78 | 91.78 |
Grants:
- 2017 – Sjoberg’s Inc. – NW MN Rural Broadband – GRANT $307,088
- 2016 – CENTURYLINK THIEF RIVER MIDDLE MILE – GRANT: $1,324,400
- 2016 – GARDEN VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY RURAL THIEF RIVER FALLS EAST – GRANT: $2,027,035
- 2019: Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband Project – GRANT $1,151,526
Find more articles on Pennington County https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=pennington&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.
