Rank: 14
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Carver County: CarverLink makes plans for 2024

Carver County’s rank bumps from 24 to 14 for broadband access out of 87 counties.

Carver County is lucky to have CarverLink, a publicly owned broadband fiber optics network that celebrated a 10-year anniversary in September 2023. But 10 years seems to be a golden age for the organization. They remain instrumental in brokering deals and using $2.5 million in County funds to construct an additional 80+ miles of rural fiber that will make fiber available to all remaining rural locations throughout the County that do not currently have access to fiber internet. (Access a full CarverNet report.)

With leadership from CarverLink, Carver County retains its green ranking.

• Over the years, Carver County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants. But CarverLink, Carver County’s publicly owned fiber optics network, has been instrumental in broadband in the community since inception
• Carver County will not benefit from a recent MN Broadband grant award.
• Carver County will benefit from 9 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $27.5 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, Carver ranked 2 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• 2013, Carver County received ARRA funding for Carverlink, a publicly owned 89-mile base ring with 33 miles of lateral lines. It was completed in Fall of 2013.

Find more articles on broadband in Carver County. (http://tinyurl.com/jxj9v9x)

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.)

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)