Rank: 79
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Yellow Medicine County: improvement but too slow
Yellow Medicine County ranks 79 (down one point) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They 61.09 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 1695 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $15.7 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 |
| Yellow Medicine | 5.7 | 4,354 | 61.09 | 1695 | 15763500 |
Yellow Medicine has steadily increased broadband coverage, unfortunately they are far away from the goal. They will need a concerted effort to get closer to the goal. In 2023, Interstate Telecom was awarded almost $5 million in Border to Border funding to construct a 100% fiber-to-the-premises broadband network with speeds capable of up to 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload. The project will serve 483 locations in Yellow Medicine County. ITC has another application in to the latest (still open) round of Border to Border funding; results should be available in early 2024.
They may also be concerned about being in a potentially precarious position because looking at access in the County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access (56.69 percent coverage) and wireline with fixed wireless (99.5 percent). Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless. That could make a big difference to who is eligible for BEAD funding.
It seems as if Yellow Medicine has an engaged provider that might be able to help them reach the broadband goal with state or upcoming federal (BEAD) funding.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 61.09 | 58.17 | 48.81 | 37.71 | 38.86 | 37.72 | 19.28 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 68.63 | 68.7 | 64.65 | 59.83 | 68.31 | 46.91 | 20.42 |
Grants:
- 2023: Interstate Telecommunications Company – Yellow Medicine County West Fiber-To-The-Home Project – GRANT $4,988,174
- 2016 – MIDCO CANBY TO MARSHALL MIDDLE MILE AND LAST MILE – GRANT AMOUNT: $623,000
- 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
Find more articles on broadband in Yellow Medicine County (http://tinyurl.com/zhsj3ke)
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.
