Rank: 12
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Beltrami County well served thanks to Paul Bunyan

Beltrami County ranks 12 for broadband access; same as last year. They have hovered around 99 percent access to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since 2019. The effort to get ubiquitous broadband stems from local cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications.

A recent report noted that Paul Bunyan’s investment has led to business growth. In Oct 2024, The Center on Rural Innovation looked at Paul Bunyan’s impact in the community: “…And based on Beltrami County’s steady business growth it seems Paul Bunyan Communications’ approach is paying off. Since 2010, the number of businesses in Beltrami County has grown by 12.1% (which amounts to an average annual increase of 1.1%), outperforming both the state and the country as a whole…”

• Over the years, Beltrami County (or cities within) has not invested for matches any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Beltrami County will not benefit from a recent MN Broadband grant.
• Beltrami County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $230,000 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, Beltrami ranked 40 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• They have an engaged cooperative provider and it seems likely that they should reach the goal of ubiquitous broadband. It’s worth noting that they rank number 4 for Gig access.

Past Grants:

• 2020: Paul Bunyan received a MN Border to Border grant to bring fiber to the Leach Lake Indian Reservation and the southeast Beltrami.

Find more articles on broadband in Beltrami County. (http://tinyurl.com/z5yvec6)

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.)

You can see there are just a few locations in the southeast corner of the 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) and will code each:

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