NTIA just released their 2023 Federal Broadband Funding Report. It shows fiscal year (FY) 2022 data reported by 13 agencies across 70 programs making investments in broadband.³ As you can see from the county bullet list below, the map tracks a number of factors.

Today I posted Minnesota county rankings for broadband access and subscriptions. The posts include more specific data about each county. Here’s the information included – but at a state level:

Minnesota Information
Households with a broadband subscription: 88.6%
Population with access to broadband services of at least 25/3 Mbps: 97.5%
Employed: 66.3%
Labor force participation: 69.1%
Unemployed: 3.4%
Annual change in employment: 2.6%
Workers self-employed: 5.2%
Workers that work from home: 11.4%
Weekly wage: $1,289
Median household income: $77,712
Poverty (SAIPE): 9.3%
Poverty (ACS): 9.2%
Establishment entry rate: 12.0%
Annual change in establishments with less than 20 employees: -0.5%
Annual change in establishments with less than 500 employees: -0.6%
Annual change in Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP): 5.4%
Median home value: $250,200
Annual change in population: 0.0%
Net migration rate (per 1,000 population): -1.6
Population with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 37.6%
High school-aged population not enrolled, not a graduate: 3.4%

Rather than create one very long post, I’ve broken this information into three posts:

• How do counties do/rank for access to broadband?
• How do counties do/rank for broadband subscriptions?
• What can counties do with this information at the local level?

This report is not what I will use for the annual County Profiles because it is not up to date, it tracks 2022. Also, it only looks at broadband at speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up; in Minnesota the broadband goal is 100 Mbps down and 20 up (100/20) or faster in 2026. But I am interested in subscription rates and now is a good time to see how your county presents – before federal funding is allocated.

What can counties do with this information at the local level?

If your access ranking is low

If broadband access in your county is not what you’d like, now is the time to make sure that you qualify for federal BEAD funding. From July 22 to August 21, communities and providers can challenge the federal maps that define which areas are eligible for federal funding. Individuals who are unserved can take speed tests to demonstrate need. Challenges and speed tests happen through the Minnesota Challenge Portal.

The importance of challenges and speed tests has come up at the last MN Broadband Task Force meeting and at the weekly Office of Broadband Development weekly office meetings. The weekly meetings continue on Thursday afternoons; they are informative, and questions are welcome. They have gone through step-by-step instructions for challenges and speed tests and recordings are available.

What you see on the portal will definitely be different from the 2023 Federal Report I’m looking at today – but the results from the 2023 report might spur you to see what the funding map thinks.

If your subscription ranking is low

Low subscription rate means people are not prioritizing a paid subscription. That may mean expense is an issue and I suspect these numbers will change dramatically since the discontinuation of the federal low-income broadband subsidy (Affordable Connectivity Program.)  It may also mean, residents are not interested in being online, which is often a matter of gaining digital equity skills or devices to access broadband.

There is federal funding (Digital Opportunity) to help getting people access to devices and building up skills. The Minnesota Digital Opportunity Plan was approved in March 2024. That plan should offer opportunities. If you are a community leader, or potential broadband champion, this may be an opportunity to talk to local libraries, schools, economic development and workforce organizations. Maybe language or ablism is standing in the way of access? Take a look at the needs and resources in your community. There may be things you can do already – for example, help promote the computer classes at the library. Also, it may be helpful to have a local team or at least understanding of what would close the digital divide locally when funding does become available.

Your subscription rate is high but access is low

High subscription rate and limited access may be the sign of some unhappy users. People who want and would pay for better access. You may want to find a way to keep them engaged for a time when your community might need to raise funds, votes or interest in creating a community broadband plan either by working with a provider partner or pursuing BEAD funding once available for distribution from the Office of Broadband Development.

Data might help punctuate your community’s stories

I think it’s the stories that drive us to action – kids getting Wi-Fi in the McDonald’s parking lot after hours to finish their homework, the single parent who has to decide between paying for Internet access or gas for the car, the high school kid who gets 8 college credits taking community college classes online… but the various data points gathered by the NTIA are helpful in quantifying the need.