Rank: 53
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Mahnomen: From red to yellow ranking with latest momentum

Mahnomen County ranks 47 (down 6 places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Mahnomen saw a dip in broadband coverage but that may be due to mapping differences. Mahnomen went from almost 19 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up in 2019 to 71 percent coverage in 2021. Growth has been incremental and slow since.

Mahnomen will benefit from two 2024 MN State grants in the near future; hopefully that will get them a yellow ranking next year.

• Over the years, Mahnomen County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Mahnomen County will benefit from two MN Broadband grants:
  $4,626,012 award that will serve 287 locations and
  $4,626,012 award that will serve 137 locations.
• Mahnomen County will benefit from 29 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $2.8 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, Mahnomen ranked 85 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

2024 Grants:

• County: Clearwater, Mahnomen
  Garden Valley Telephone Company 2024 Rural Mahnomen County
  Grant: $4,626,012
  Local Match: $1,542,008
  Total Budget: $6,168,020
  This Low Density Garden Valley Telephone Company in Mahnomen County project is a combination middle mile and last mile Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) which will serve locations within the borders of the White Earth Reservation in Mahnomen County. This project recognizes broadband has become essential to economic prosperity in the rural communities and would allow employees to work from home, provide children with access to homework and essential internet related research and improve access to telemedicine at 287 locations, of which 181 are unserved and 106 underserved. Partner funding total of $250, from local community members.
• County: Mahnomen
  Arvig
  Arvig – Naytahwaush Area
  Grant: $326,111
  Local Match: $326,111
  Total Budget: $652,222
  This Border-to-Border project will bring fiber to the home near Naytahwaush in Mahnomen County. Arvig will bring broadband to 137 passings via an all fiber-to-the-home construction project. All locations would be able to receive up to 10 Gbps download speeds and 1 Gbps upload. This area consists of mostly residential customers (some of whom work from home) with a few businesses. The White Earth Tribe is in support of the project.

Past grant:

• 2017 – Garden Valley Telephone Company – Bejou – GRANT $1,304,421

Find more articles on broadband in Mahnomen County (https://tinyurl.com/4bfrr34x)

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)