Rank: 10
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Pennington	99.5	11	99.44	10	89.77	14	9

Pennington County: inching closer

In 2018, Pennington went from 9 percent access to 90 percent with the help of state (border to border) and federal loan (USDA to Garden Valley). They have had steady improvement ever since, which is why they earn a green code. They are very close to goal and retain their Green status.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 86 locations in Pennington County. The 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. (Pennington has benefitted 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.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	99.44	99.51	99.53	99.4	98.19	96.95	96.18	90.75	9.63
25/3 (2022 goal)	99.5	99.6	99.55	99.4	99.37	98.53	97.21	91.78	91.78

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 Pennington: 86
The locations qualify for satellite.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Pennington	85	1	86	Pennington

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 Pennington 0 was invested over the years.

No New Posts from 2025

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $241,800 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, Pennington ranked 35 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• 2017 – Sjoberg’s Inc. – NW MN Rural Broadband – GRANT $307,088
• 2016 – CENTURYLINK THIEF RIVER MIDDLE MILE – GRANT: $1,324,400
• 2016 – GARDEN VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY RURAL THIEF RIVER FALLS EAST – GRANT: $2,027,035
• 2019: Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband Project – GRANT $1,151,526

Find more articles on Pennington County https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=pennington&submit=Search

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)