Rank: 25
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Itasca	96.43	31	96.17	25	80.85	21	15

Itasca County: recent grant will help improve access

Itasca County continues to increase. It’s exciting to see the improvements over the last three years. That continued improvement earns them a Green status.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 266 locations in Itasca 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. (Itasca has benefitted from 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.

 

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	96.17	91.62	88.39	85.5	86.65	84.14	83.06	79.44	76.35
25/3 (2022 goal)	96.43	92.39	94.6	92.85	93.03	87.67	93.12	86.15	78.92

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 Itasca: 266
The locations include a majority of satellite and fixed wireless connections with some fiber.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Mediacom LLC	PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Fiber
Itasca	218	6	42	266	Itasca

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 Itasca 0 was invested over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Itasca County providers received $126,357.54  in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards
• Becker County community leaders testify at the MN Legislature on the value of data centers in their community.
• More on Becker County experience recruiting data centers.

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $26 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, Itasca ranked 48 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• Itasca County is home to the Blandin Foundation and the community is engaged in broadband development; in early 2022, they looked at the local digital divide before and after/during COVID

Past Grants:

• 2023: Paul Bunyan Telephone awarded $10 million in ReConnect funds for networks in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties
• 2017 – Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Fiber – GRANT $802,620
• 2016 MEDIACOM HARRIS TOWNSHIP – GRANT: $224,369
• 2016 – PAUL BUNYAN COMMUNICATIONS HUBBARD, BECKER & ITASCA COUNTIES – GRANT: $1,742,232
• 2015 – Paul Bunyan Central Itasca County Fiber – Grant Award: $1,980,000
• Paul Bunyan Communications – North Central Minnesota Fiber Project– GRANT $2,562,916

Find more articles on broadband in Itasca County. (http://tinyurl.com/grujo6t)

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)