Rank: 38
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Isanti	93.39	39	90.69	38	66.71	34	12

Isanti County: the growth continues

Isanti County is on fire with some very engaged providers. For so long Isanti County was served by one large national provider, that was not meeting their needs. Now, there is a new cooperative in the area (ECE) that is starting to deploy service in the area. And a national provider, Midco, who is also engaging.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 1,437 locations in Anoka County. However, the majority of locations will get a satellite or fixed wireless connection, 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. (Isanti has not benefited from earlier Line Extension awards. So that might be a strategy worth considering.)

Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.

Continued growth and the promise of continued growth with BEAD funding earner Isanti gets a Green status.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	90.69	65.6	54.09	50.09	50.21	48.63	48.05	56.62	49.29
25/3 (2022 goal)	93.39	74.1	65.98	60.25	78.5	76.77	73.5	73.67	53.52

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 Isanti: 1,886
The locations include a majority of fiber with some satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	East Central Energy Fiber	IBT Group USA, LLC	Midco	Midco	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Fixed Wireless	Cable Coax	Fiber
Isanti	15	266	137	2	1,466	1,886	Isanti

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 Isanti $242,000 was invested in two projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Office of Broadband Development and Legislators visit East Central Energy fiber network in Pine City

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $66.6 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, Isanti ranked 45 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

• With two grants going to East Central Energy and more coming through Midcontinent, a momentum seems to be building for Isanti County

Past Grants:

• East Central Energy Mille Lacs Central
  Grant: $3,267,902, Local Match: $5,111,333, Total Budget: $8,379,235
• East Central Energy – ECE Mille Lacs Sout
  Grant: $4,885,809, Local Match: $8,319,081, Total Budget: $13,204,890

• 2023: East Central Energy – Isanti South – GRANT $4,900,000
• 2022: Midcontinent Communications, $1,647,321.00
• 2022: East Central Energy – Isanti North – GRANT $5,000,000

Find more articles on broadband in Isanti County. (http://tinyurl.com/gozt2ka)

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)