Rank: 21
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Hubbard County: code from going from red to yellow to green in three years

Hubbard County ranks 21 (up one place) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Their growth has been incremental, but steady and they are now close enough to goal to merit a green rank.

• Over the years, Hubbard County (or cities within) has not invested to match any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Hubbard County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
• Hubbard County will benefit from 28 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $8.2 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, Hubbard ranked 39 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• In February 2023, Paul Bunyan Telephone was awarded $10 million in ReConnect funds for networks in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties.

Grants:

• 2017 – Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Fiber – GRANT $802,620
• 2016 – PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS HUBBARD, BECKER & ITASCA COUNTIES – GRANT: $1,742,232

Find more articles on broadband in Hubbard County. (http://tinyurl.com/hy7et5e)

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)