Renville County Broadband Profile 2022: Red rating: Ranking out 74 of 87

Rank: 74
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

County 25/3
(% covered)
25/3 rank 100/20
(% covered)
100/20 rank Gig
(% covered)
Gig
rank
Renville 73.92 80 71.99 74 33 60

Renville County: Still stuck

Renville County ranks 74 (down 3) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Their percent covered dipped slightly but that is likely within a margin of error. Renville County has been working on better broadband for more than 10 years, but they have stayed stagnant at 70 percent coverage. Their 2024 MN State grant with Hanson Communication should help them see improvement. However, until then they retain their ref ranking.

They may be concerned about being in a potentially precarious position because looking at access in the County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access  and wireline with fixed wireless. Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless. That could make a big difference to who is eligible for BEAD funding.

Broadband Access:

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 71.99 72.23 70.79 70.86 63.23 59.06 51.78 50.43
25/3 (2022 goal) 73.92 73.98 73.41 74.48 67.74 61.9 55.06 59.27

2024 Grant:

  • County: Chippewa, Renville
    Hanson Communications
    Hanson – Chippewa Cty W
    Grant: $2,081,494
    Local Match: $2,544,150
    Total Budget: $4,625,644
    Hanson will build and operate a Fiber To The Premises (FTTP) network covering the unserved and underserved areas within Southwest Chippewa County. There are 283 total fiber passings in the project. This project comes in partnership with Chippewa County, who has committed $200,000 to the project. Over 68 businesses lacking a 100/20 mbps connection are included in the project area. Most businesses in the project area are related to agrobusiness, machinery, construction, transportation, services & consumer goods. For livestock operations, broadband is a necessity. Remote monitoring and alarm systems, critical for ensuring the health and safety of livestock, rely heavily on broadband connectivity. Additionally, the process of buying and selling livestock and equipment at online auctions is emerging in the online marketplace

Past Grants:

  • 2016 – RENVILLE COUNTY HBC & RS FIBER – GRANT: $807,966
  • 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
  • 2014 – R-S Fiber Cooperative, FTTH Project – Award: $1 million.
  • 2019: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – Hutchinson W Project – GRANT $346,282
  • 2019: Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Renville Project – GRANT $230,835
  • MN State Grant awarded in 2021: Minnesota Valley Telephone Company (MVTC) – Rural Franklin Fiber Project – GRANT $226,800 This middle and last mile project will serve approximately 45 unserved locations in the City of Franklin and the townships of Sherman, Eden, Camp and Birch Cooley in Redwood, Renville and Brown counties.

Find more articles on broadband in Renville County (http://tinyurl.com/hfazdvf)

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)
This entry was posted in County Profiles 2024, MN, Red by Ann Treacy. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ann Treacy

Librarian who follows rural broadband in MN and good uses of new technology (blandinonbroadband.org), hosts a radio show on MN music (mostlyminnesota.com), supports people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota (elimstrongtowershelters.org) and helps with social justice issues through Women’s March MN.

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