Rank: 4
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Stevens	99.91	5	99.91	4	99.91	3	9

Stevens County: So close

Stevens County continues on the top ranked counties with almost 100 percent coverage, which is why they 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 6 locations in Steele 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 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.

Broadband Access:

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	99.91	99.72	96.06	97.08	96.79	96.79	96.74	96.74	96.73
25/3 (2022 goal)	99.91	99.72	99.81	99.31	99.22	99.22	99.22	99.22	99.21

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 Stevens: 6
The locations include a majority of satellite and fixed wireless 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
Stevens	5	1	6	Stevens

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 Stevens 0 was invested over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Stevens County providers received $20,000 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $1.1 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, Stevens ranked 25 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• Stevens County has been involved with broadband for years – going back to working with Blandin Foundation-led, Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (2009-2012) effort.

Grants:

• 2022: Runestone Telephone Association – Herman-Dumont – GRANT $2,493,637
• 2017 – Advantenon – Rural Grant, Stevens and Wilkin Counties – Grant $316,554
• 2014 – Otter Tail Telcom, Swan Lake West – Award: $438,937.

Find more articles on broadband in Stevens County (http://tinyurl.com/joutu2h)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2024. Red dots represent locations unserved locations. Above I have tracked wireline access because that is the Minnesota definition of broadband. The info below includes wired and wireless. BEAD includes fixed wireless connections as served locations. (I wrote more on the distinction between the two last year, which may be if interest in the numbers range greatly for your county.)

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)