Rank: 47
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Rice County: Dropped from yellow to red ranking 

Rice County ranks 47 (down 2 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Rice County had a great leap of broadband in 2019; they have been stagnant since.

Because they have been stagnant for so long, Rice County keeps their red ranking

• Over the years, Rice County (or cities within) has invested $15,000 (total) for matches for 1 successful MN Broadband grant. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Rise County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
• Rice County will benefit from 3 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $30.8 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, Rice ranked 12 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Grants:

• MN State Grants awarded in 2021: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – Webster Rural FTTP – GRANT $431,260 This last mile project will serve 103 unserved and 178 underserved locations in Wheatland and Webster townships in Rice County, Euraka and Greenvale townships in Dakota County, and New Market and Cedar Lake townships in Scott County.

• BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telecom, Inc.) – Rural Morristown Fiber Expansion Project – GRANT $210,692 This last mile project will serve approximately 14 unserved and 94 underserved locations in portions of Rice, Waseca, and Steele counties.

Find more articles on broadband in Rice County (http://tinyurl.com/jg6q8gs)

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)