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

Ranking according to MN maps
(learn more about MN vs National maps)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Aitkin	87.49	56	86.13	50	69.46	32	14

Aitkin County Still Engaged and Better

It looks like Aitkin’s map corrected in the last year, after a significant drop in 2024, which may have been due to mapping changes or irregularities. In 2024, they were awarded a Minnesota State Grant and received 69 Line Extension grants, which likely have helped reach more households in 2025.

Aitkin is engaged and investing in broadband in their community and they have been for many years.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 1,255 locations in Aitkin County. However, while some of that will go to fiber, some will go to satellite, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute. So that’s a mixed blessing.

There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of  houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Aitkin has done well with earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems hopeful for them as well.) There have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.

Aitkin County’s continued engagement helps them maintain their yellow status; Otherwise less than 90 percent coverage to 100/20 OR 25/3 would indicate red status. Engagement from local providers has helped as well.

Broadband Access:

Aitkin	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	86.13	73.35	84.75	60.36	52.96	46.66	37.74	17.55	11.52
25/3 (2022 goal)	87.49	76.63	93.96	68.13	64.32	63.62	60.17	45.68	27.48

Possible BEAD support

The Minnesota BEAD Final Proposal has not yet been approved so the information below is subject to change; it includes the number of locations by county specifying provider and broadband type. (Learn more.)

Locations in Aitkin: 1,255
The locations include a mix of fiber and satellite.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	CTC	East Central Energy Fiber	Johnson Telephone Company	Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative	PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Fiber	Fiber	Fiber	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Aitkin	261	4	99	200	130	325	236	1,255	Aitkin

Local Government Match for State Broadband Grants:

Over the years, many local governments (County, Municipal, Tribal) have invested in broadband deployment. This year, I have tracked how much local investment has been used to match MN State Grants. Local governments invest in other ways too, but this was one number I could realistically find and quantify investment by county, which means investment in that county, whether by county, cities or other local government entity.

In Aitkin $50,000 was invested in 6 Projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Stacy Cluff, IT & Broadband Manager, MLEC is interviewed on Aitkin County Podcast NaturallyBetter. It’s a firsthand account of broadband coming to Aitkin County. It is as much of an introduction to MLEC and the local economy as it is broadband, which makes sense as it’s intersectional.
• Aitkin County providers received $689,620.88 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $19.5 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county.
• In 2022, Aitkin County worked with Blandin Foundation as an IRBC (Iron Range Broadband Community) and they were cohorts in Blandin’s inaugural Accelerate! program.
• In the past, a roadblock for Aitkin was that the county is widely served by a national provider that had not been upgrading the connections in their area.
• In 2022, Aitkin ranked 84^th using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative MLEC Fiber – Cedar Lake: Grant: $1,808,768, Local Match: $2,266,272, Total Budget: $4,075,040
• 2023: SCI – Aitkin County Broadband Expansion – GRANT $794,822
• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative, $1,231,818.00
• Paul Bunyan Communications, $3,052,120.00 (also serves Itasca and Louis)
• $4.8 million block grant McGrath Project that is scheduled to be completed by fall 2023

• Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative Phase 4 FTTH – GRANT $198,607. This fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project will serve 80 unserved and five underserved locations along the southeast side of Farm Island Lake in Aitkin County. Through a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, MLEC will bring 1 Gbps speeds to 84 homes and one business on the fiber route, exceeding the State’s 2022 and 2026 speed goals.
• 2017 – SCI – Shamrock Township Broadband Expansion – GRANT $148,503
• 2016 – MILLE LACS ENERGY COOPERATIVE FTTP PROJECT – GRANT: $1,757,640
• 2020 – Emily Cooperative Telephone Company – Round Lake Fiber Project – GRANT $376,000
• 2020 Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – MLEC Phase 3 FTTH Project with CTC – GRANT $1,253,955
• 2020: SCI Broadband (Savage Communications Inc.) – Glen Township Broadband Expansion Project – GRANT $195,848

Find more articles on broadband in Aitkin County. (http://tinyurl.com/hdqdmhr)

The maps below come from the

• Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2025 – tracking wireline access.
• The FCC National Broadband Maps, reflecting data updated November 28, 2025 – tracking fixed wireless access.

I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the data and maps from MN Office of Broadband (updated on Deb 16, 2025) and news gathered from the last year. I’m looking at progress toward 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) MN speed goals and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)