Rank:  55
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Douglas	91.92	41	85.49	55	39.98	64	14

Douglas County: Slow improvement but engaged providers

Douglas County has seen incremental increase in broadband access in the last year, after a nice climb the year before.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 484 locations in Douglas County. Some of the locations will get fiber and some locations will get a satellite, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute.

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

Douglas will get some fiber when the BEAD funding is disbursed but they will also get satellite, which will not meet the state goals. Douglas retains their Yellow status.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	85.94	83.48	77.58	74.59	72.89	70	68.82	25.56	7.68
25/3 (2022 goal)	91.92	90.59	94.06	91.22	90.94	83.63	88.25	82.96	75.1

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 Douglas: 484
The locations include a mix of fiber and satellite connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Company	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Douglas	108	373	3	484	Douglas

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 Douglas invested $72,4000 on two programs over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Douglas County providers received $46,361.52 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $39 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, Douglas ranked 15 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone – Gardonville – Douglas Cty
  Grant: $223,521, Local Match: $223,522, Total Budget: $447,043
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone – Buckskin – GRANT $857,013

• 2023 Gardonville Cooperative Telephone – Carlos – GRANT $665,950
• 2022: Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association, $1,212,337.50
• 2022: ReConnect Tekstar Communications $12,602,274

• 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Country Estates FTTH Project – GRANT $101,624
• 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Pospisil Drive FTTH Project – GRANT $54,155
• 2016 – GARDONVILLE COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE DOUGLAS COUNTY LAKE LOUISE – GRANT: $68,240
• 2016 – RUNESTONE TELEPHONE HOLMES CITY 2 — GRANT: $700,674
• 2015 – Runestone Telephone Association – Holmes City – Grant award: $189,990
• 2019: Charter Communications – Lake Carlos Project – GRANT $74,540
• 2019: Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Krohnfeldt Drive FTTH Project – GRANT $42,921
• 2019: Runestone Telecom Association – South Alexandria Project – GRANT $1,760,423
• Arvig (Tekstar Communications, Inc.) – Lake Osakis, Sauk Lake & Smith Lake Project – GRANT $486,458 This middle and last mile project will upgrade approximately 230 unserved and 39 underserved locations in Todd and Douglas counties.
• Charter Communications (Spectrum) – West Lake Carlos – GRANT $24,450
  This middle and last mile project will serve approximately 42 unserved households on the west side of Lake Carlos in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – County Road 34 FTTH Project – GRANT $1,551,370 This last mile project will serve 71 unserved and 544 underserved locations in Ida and Carlos townships in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – Hazel Hill Road FTTH Project – GRANT $692,929 This middle and last mile project will serve 212 unserved households, 79 unserved businesses and one unserved farm in Alexandria Township in Douglas County.
• Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County – Town Hall Road FTTH Project – GRANT $90,251 This last mile project will serve 46 unserved and 3 underserved locations in La Grand Township in Douglas County

Find more articles on broadband in Douglas County. (http://tinyurl.com/jqpohsc)

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 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)