Rank: 50
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Wright County: still stalled at 80 percent coverage

Wright County ranks 65 (up 15 places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. After a few years of stalling and inconsistent mapping, Wright saw a nice increase in access likely due to several MN State broadband grants in 2023. They are in line to benefit from another $1 million MN State grant in the near future. I have upgraded their ranking to green.

• Over the years, Wright County (or cities within) has invested $703,900 (total) for matches for 3 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Wright County will benefit from a 2024 almost $1 million MN Broadband grant (Round 10) award that will serve 300 locations.
• Wright 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, Wright ranked 10 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• In 2023, Last year’s report from the Institute for Local Self Reliance looked at broadband in Monticello and Buffalo in Wright County.

2024 Grant:

• County: Wright
  Grant: $945,133
  Local Match: $1,155,163
  Total Budget: $2,100,296
  The Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Cokato Township project will provide fiber-to-the-premise broadband access to rural sites in Cokato Township in Wright County, excluding the area within the city limits of the town of Cokato Minnesota. This project will improve unserved/underserved levels of service up to 1 gigabit per second download and upload speeds resulting in more efficient and effective e-learning, telemedicine options and enhanced precision agriculture tools to 300 locations, including 189 unserved and 111 underserved addresses.

Past Grant:

• 2023: Frontier – Wright County – City of Clearwater – GRANT $829,800
• 2023 Arvig (Tekstar) – Wright County Area Fiber Extension – GRANT $879,747
• 2023: Meeker Coop Light & Power – French Lake Township – Wright County – GRANT $1,270,132
• 2022: Spectrum Mid-America, LLC managed by Charter Communications Inc., $2,832,155.00 (Learn more)
• 2022: Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association (Vibrant Broadband) – Collinwood Lake – GRANT $104,337
• Spectrum Mid-America, LLC managed by Charter Communications Inc. – Wright County Project 4 – GRANT $1,008,146

• 2017 – Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Annandale East – GRANT $537,050
• Meeker Coop. Light & Power Assoc. (Vibrant Broadband) – Lake Louisa/Lake Marie Project – GRANT $297,940

Find more article on Wright County https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=%22wright+county%22&submit=Search

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)