Rank: 65
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Wright County: still stalled at 80 percent coverage

Wright County ranks 65 (down 16 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 75.43 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2708 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $25.1 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Last year’s report from the Institute for Local Self Reliance looked at broadband in Monticello and Buffalo in Wright County.

In December 2022, the Office of Broadband Development (OBD) awarded Border to Border grants that will benefit Wright County

• Spectrum received $2.8 million to cover 626 households and 12 businesses
• Meeker Cooperative received $104,337 to serve 86 unserved rural households, 16 underserved rural households and 5 farms in central Minnesota.
• Spectrum received $1 million to provide reliable high speed internet to 387 homes and 25 business in portions of the City of St. Michaels and the Township of Rockford in Wright County

Wright County is a code yellow community in part because their percentage of access has been stalled and the reporting is inconsistent.

In 2023, OBD awarded Border to Border grants that will benefit Wright County

• Arvig received $879,747 to build to 256 households, farms and businesses throughout parts of rural Wright County
• Frontier received $829,800 to provide 5 Gbps symmetrical service to 316 households, businesses, community anchor institutions and farms
• Meeker Cooperative received $1.2 million to serve 525 households, businesses and the French Lake Township Hall in central Minnesota

Also, Meeker and Midco have applications in to the latest (still open) round of Border to Border funding; results should be available in early 2024.

Wright County has a lot going on for broadband right now. That will help them increase coverage and prepare them to take advantage of federal (BEAD) funds. The retain their yellow ranking.

Grant:

• 2023: Frontier – Wright County – City of Clearwater – GRANT $829,800
• 2023 Arvig (Tekstar) – Wright County Area Fiber Extension – GRANT $879,747
• 2023: Meeker Coop Light & Power – French Lake Township – Wright County – GRANT $1,270,132
• 2022: Spectrum Mid-America, LLC managed by Charter Communications Inc., $2,832,155.00 (Learn more)
• 2022: Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association (Vibrant Broadband) – Collinwood Lake – GRANT $104,337
• Spectrum Mid-America, LLC managed by Charter Communications Inc. – Wright County Project 4 – GRANT $1,008,146

• 2017 – Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Annandale East – GRANT $537,050
• Meeker Coop. Light & Power Assoc. (Vibrant Broadband) – Lake Louisa/Lake Marie Project – GRANT $297,940

Find more article on Wright County https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=%22wright+county%22&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.