The historical numbers for Freeborn County are unreliable. The numbers from 2017 reflect wireless connections and the more recent don’t but the difference seems to reflect more than that. It is clear that they will need a concerted effort to … Continue reading
I wrote earlier about the $28.5 million coming from the FCC to Minnesota for broadband. BUT I want to follow up with any specific info related to providers or areas getting the funding. The Albert Lea Tribune reports… The Federal … Continue reading
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. The numbers for Freeborn have been a little strange; some of the … Continue reading
Freeborn County was well served in 2014 (95 percent coverage) and they are well served today with 99 percent access to speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 94 percent access to 100/20. Freeborn has also been very lucky/good at getting … Continue reading
For the upcoming weeks I’m working on a County-by-County look at the State of Broadband in MN. My hope is to feature a county a day (in alphabetical order). In November, Connect Minnesota released their final report on broadband availability. … Continue reading
Thanks to Ann Higgins for the heads up on what’s happening in Albert Lea and Freeborn County. According to the Albert Lea Tribune… The Albert Lea City Council on Monday approved another step toward sharing information technology services with Freeborn … Continue reading
The regularly scheduled eNews has been slightly changed this month, because we have posted the annual MN County Broadband Profiles. We take a look at the top counties, the bottom counties and everything in between – and if you want … Continue reading
Yellow Medicine is not poised to meet the broadband speed goals for either 2022 or 2026 but they created a project for a grant application in the last round. It wasn’t funded, but that sets the stage for engagement later. … Continue reading
Traverse County is not poised to meet the MN broadband speed goals for either 2022 or 2026. Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date 2019 2018 2017 100/20 (2026 goal) 49.39 45.62 45.37 25/3 (2022 goal) 67.25 66.14 45.37 … Continue reading
Based as much on their recent momentum as on their numbers, Polk County could very well meet the speed goals for 2022 and 2026; their odds are probably higher for 2026. Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date Polk … Continue reading
Mower County is in danger of not making the speed goals for either 2022 or 2026. It seems as if they may have some momentum going but it’s difficult to tell with mapping anomalies. The recent approval of the Mid … Continue reading
Marshall County is not poised to meet the state speed goals for either 2022 or 2026. They have received several grants that have helped get service to the area. Part of the problem is that they started with low access … Continue reading
Kittson County made great strides in improving broadband access after 2017. It seems likely that state broadband grants to Wikstrom Telephone Company helped with the improvement. To meet the state broadband goals for 2022 and 2026, Kittson will need to … Continue reading
Faribault is not on track to meet either the 2022 or 2026 speeds goals. It looks like there was a dip in access to 100/20 after 2017; that is likely because in 2017 100/20 wireless access was included with wired. … Continue reading
Blue Earth County is in danger of not making either the 2022 or 2026 MN speed goals. Anomalies in the data available makes it difficult to assess with confidence. In 2017, Blue Earth was deemed non-competitive for business by the … Continue reading
