Rank: 73
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Aitkin County’s Bumpy but Engaged Ride to Broadband

Aitkin’s rank/coverage has bounced up and down over the last three years from 60.36% (2022) to 84.75% (2023) to 73.35 (2024). There have been a lot of changes in the mapping in 2024; I suspect this year is a correction.

Aitkin is engaged and investing in broadband in their community and they have been for many years. They have a mix of local and national broadband providers. It will be interesting to see who bids for BEAD funding and what their goals are. Aitkin County’s poverty level is higher than state average, which may impact business case in the area. 

• Over the years, Aitkin County (or cities within) has invested $50,000 (total) for matches for 6 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Aitkin County will benefit from a 2024 $1.8 million MN Broadband grant (Round 10) award that will serve 421 locations.
• Aitkin County will benefit from 69 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $19.5 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Aitkin County worked with Blandin Foundation as an IRBC (Iron Range Broadband Community) and they were cohorts in Blandin’s inaugural Accelerate! program.  
• In the past, a roadblock for Aitkin was that the county is widely served by a national provider that had not been upgrading the connections in their area.
• In 2022, Aitkin ranked 84^th using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Broadband Access:

2024 Grants:

• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative MLEC Fiber – Cedar Lake
  Grant: $1,808,768
  Local Match: $2,266,272
  Total Budget: $4,075,040
  The MLEC Fiber – Cedar Lake project will see continued collaboration between Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) and Consolidated Telecommunications Company (CTC) to expand fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) to a significantly unserved area in Aitkin County. The project will expand off the existing MLEC Fiber network to bring vital communications to help with distance learning, remote working, and telemedicine needs in Aitkin County at 421 locations, including 317 unserved and 104 underserved residential and season homes, small farms, and home businesses. Aitkin County has pledged $25,000 to this project.

Past Grants:

• 2023: SCI – Aitkin County Broadband Expansion – GRANT $794,822
• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative, $1,231,818.00
• Paul Bunyan Communications, $3,052,120.00 (also serves Itasca and Louis)
• $4.8 million block grant McGrath Project that is scheduled to be completed by fall 2023

• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative Phase 4 FTTH – GRANT $198,607. This fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project will serve 80 unserved and five underserved locations along the southeast side of Farm Island Lake in Aitkin County. Through a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, MLEC will bring 1 Gbps speeds to 84 homes and one business on the fiber route, exceeding the State’s 2022 and 2026 speed goals.
• 2017 – SCI – Shamrock Township Broadband Expansion – GRANT $148,503
• 2016 – MILLE LACS ENERGY COOPERATIVE FTTP PROJECT – GRANT: $1,757,640
• 2020 – Emily Cooperative Telephone Company – Round Lake Fiber Project – GRANT $376,000
• 2020 Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – MLEC Phase 3 FTTH Project with CTC – GRANT $1,253,955
• 2020: SCI Broadband (Savage Communications Inc.) – Glen Township Broadband Expansion Project – GRANT $195,848

Find more articles on broadband in Aitkin County. (http://tinyurl.com/hdqdmhr)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2024. Red dots represent locations unserved locations. Above I have tracked wireline access because that is the Minnesota definition of broadband. The info below includes wired and wireless. BEAD includes fixed wireless connections as served locations. (I wrote more on the distinction between the two last year, which may be if interest in the numbers range greatly for your county.)

As you can see the unserved households are both scattered and clustered in Aitkin County

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) MN speed goals and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)