Rank: 54
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Steele	86.4	62	85.5	54	85.32	18	17

Steele County: Stalled and not much community engagement

Steele County Lost some broadband coverage in 2025, I assume that’s a map correction. Steele County was hit hard when LTD Broadband was awarded federal funding and then funding was revoked. They will receive some funding from BEAD but only for satellite access, which is why they retain their red status.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 178 locations in Anoka County. The locations will get a satellite 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. (Steele has not benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that may be a strategy worth considering.) 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)	85.5	87.01	87.59	88.28	88.95	87.05	86.86	56.16	95.64
25/3 (2022 goal)	86.4	87.91	88.38	89	93.26	88.29	88.44	87.79	99.86

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 Steele: 178
The locations include satellite connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Steele	174	4	178	Steele

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 Steele 0 was invested over the years.

No New Posts from 2025

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $15.4 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, Steele ranked 14 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Steele County has been involved with broadband for years – going back to working with Blandin Foundation-led, Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (2009-2012) effort.

Past Grant

• Spectrum Mid-America, LLC managed by Charter Communications Inc., $158,052.00

Find more articles on broadband in Steele County (http://tinyurl.com/zd4qhbu)

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)