Rank: 8
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Wadena County: into the top 10!
Wadena County ranks 8 for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 99.32 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 38 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $353400 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 |
| Wadena | 10.4 | 5,628 | 99.32 | 38 | 353400 |
Wadena County saw a great jump in access in 2019. There has bee incremental improvement since then and now they are 38 households away from ubiquitous coverage.
They retain their green ranking.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 99.32 | 98.88 | 97.29 | 95.53 | 91.07 | 49.91 | 45.69 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 99.36 | 98.92 | 97.36 | 95.53 | 93.01 | 92.37 | 88.23 |
Grants:
- 2015 – West Central Telephone Association Hwy 71 Wadena NORTH Expansion Project – Grant Award: $193,515
- WCTA (West Central Telephone Association) – Rural Staples Phase I Project – GRANT $555,355
Find more articles on broadband in Wadena County (http://tinyurl.com/z7xgkz8)
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.
