Rank: 3
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
| County | 25/3 (% covered) |
25/3 rank | 100/20 (% covered) |
100/20 rank | Gig (% covered) |
Gig rank |
| Pope | 99.75 | 4 | 99.75 | 3 | 75.55 | 22 |
Pope County: latest grant project will make a difference
Pope County ranks 3 (up 40 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Last year they had 911 households without access to 100/20 broadband. But in December 2022, Hanson Communications received $4.3 million in Border to Border money to serve 504 underserved locations and 553 unserved locations. It seems like that deployment is going well.
Pope earns a green ranking.
- Over the years, Pope County (or cities within) has invested $1,067,199 (total) for matches for 1 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
- Pope County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
- Pope County will not benefit from any line extension awards
- 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, Pope ranked 46 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 99.75 | 84.65 | 79.15 | 74.48 | 73 | 68.92 | 23.67 | 24.33 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 99,75 | 90.82 | 87.81 | 82.95 | 80.81 | 76.99 | 61.27 | 62.73 |
Past Grant:
- 2022: Hanson Communications, Inc., $4,248,796.00
- 2017 – Hanson Communications – Minnewaska Area FTTP – GRANT $4,996,791
Find more articles on broadband in Pope County (http://tinyurl.com/hx7q9fd)
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)