Every year, the Blandin on Broadband blog does County Broadband Profiles (and will do again when the new maps come out) but given federal opportunities are making it possible to get funding for access and adoption, I thought I’d try … Continue reading
Mille Lacs Messenger reports… The final engineering plans have been created and the project is moving forward and on schedule according to Aitkin County Economic Development. This $4.8 million project is scheduled to be completed by fall of 2023. The … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports… Broadband and bridges topped the agenda of the Nov. 9 meeting of the Aitkin County Board. Seven townships will benefit from a $4.8 million block grant to expand and improve broadband service. According to Mark Jeffers, economic … Continue reading
Rank: 78 Code: Yellow (See Blandin Foundation interactive map) Aitkin County is near the bottom ranking. but they are working on it Aitkin County has gone from 47 percent coverage last year to almost 53 in 2021. The progress is … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports… Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) has announced that MLEC fiber internet will become available for more customers. In partnership with Aitkin County, MLEC is bringing fast and reliable fiber internet service to 565 homes. The project area … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports… Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) has announced that MLEC Fiber Internet will become available for more customers in 2022. More detail… The Phase 5 project will pass approximately 300 homes and businesses and will provide up to … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports… Last March, Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime state of emergency, issuing waivers to health care providers that temporarily granted them increased flexibility in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across Minnesota, standard regulations for treatment location, telehealth … Continue reading
Every year, the Blandin Foundation does an assessment of how the Blandin Broadband Communities projects. Here’s the update from Aitkin County… Aitkin County invested most of its first round of IRBC grant funds on improving broadband access in this very … Continue reading
Minnesota has two broadband speed goals: Ubiquitous access to speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up (25/3) by 2022 Ubiquitous access to 100/20 by 2026 Using maps and data from the Office of Broadband Development and stories collected … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports… Now, with the help of the Blandin Foundation Accelerate program – a 15-week program that helps both educate the community and develop the best solutions – the county could potentially be making some strides forward. Over the … Continue reading
Rank (from 100/20 megabits per second): 80 Code: Yellow Annually, Blandin Foundation pulls together data from the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development and broadband news to gauge progress toward the state broadband goals (25 megabits per second download/3 Mbps upload … Continue reading
Aitkin Age posts a letter from a reader (and healthcare worker) about extending rules that support and promote continued telehealth… The arrival of COVID-19 in Minnesota in early 2020 presented a series of challenges for Minnesota’s hospitals, health systems and … Continue reading
Part of becoming a Blandin Broadband Community (BBC), is the opportunity to show off what you’ve been doing related to broadband in your community. It was great to hear from folks in Aitkin today. Like all of the latest BBCs, … Continue reading
Thank you to Ross Wagner and Aitken Age for making my job so easy today with a editorial from Ross… The one thing I get the most questions, comments and complaints on is the broadband situation in Aitkin County. And … Continue reading
Aitkin Age reports on a recent Border to Border grant in the area… The Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative was one of several organizations named recipients of a Minnesota State Broadband Grant last week. The amount of the grant is $198,607, … Continue reading
Blandin on Broadband 