Category Archives: County Profile 2019

Houston County ranks 57 (out of 87) for broadband speeds of 100/20: code red

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Houston County is not poised to meet the state broadband speed goals for either 2022 or 2026. They are in better shape for 2026 however, than 2022. The good news is that means there is a provider in the area that is able/willing to provide better broadband; it’s just a matter of finding a way to extend the better broadband or persuade other providers to match that speed.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Houston 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 67.81 66.63 65.08
25/3 (2022 goal) 72.94 71.29 72.23

Houston County has shown an interest in better broadband. In 2017, a project that sought state funding, but they didn’t get it. Last year, the Houston County News ran an letter supporting Walz for Governor, specifically mentioning his support of rural broadband. More recently, Houston County Commissioners approved a $75,000 revolving loan to support a Border to Border grant application with Acentek.

Houston County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, AcenTek applied to upgrade service in Houston. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 57 (down from 37)
  • 25/3 ranking: 71
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 13.8
  • Number of providers: 7

Details:

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)

Hennepin County ranks 4 (out of 87) for broadband access to 100/20: code green

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Hennepin County is poised to make the 2022 and 2026 state broadband speed goals.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Hennepin 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 98.94 98.97 98.57
25/3 (2022 goal) 99.39 99.18 99.16

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Hennepin County has the distinct advantage of high population density, which makes for an easier  business case to serve than some of the more rural counties. In 2018, Hennepin County was home to the Superbowl and subsequently received a tech facelift for the US Bank Stadium and increased 5G access for much of the Twin Cities.

Hennepin County has benefited from one MN state grant…

  • 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Medina 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $62,219
    Serving 22 underserved households and 12 underserved businesses with service exceeding the 2022 state speed goal of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.

While Hennepin County does enjoy great access, like all Minnesota counties, they do struggle with affordability for all users. Some providers approach that with subsidized access and some simply charge lower prices.

Hennepin County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Mediacom applied to upgrade service in Hennepin. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 4 (down from 3)
  • 25/3 ranking: 8
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 784.3
  • Number of providers: 17

Details:

  • Find more articles on broadband in Hennepin County. (http://tinyurl.com/z9n7ea6)
  • Districts: CD 4, 5 & 6
    Senate: 29, 30, 33, 34, 36, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63
    House:  29A, 30B, 33A, 33B, 34A, 34B, 36A, 36B, 40A, 40B, 41B, 44A, 44B, 45A, 45B, 46A, 46B, 48A, 48B, 49A, 49B, 50A, 50B, 59A, 59B, 60A, 60B, 61A, 61B, 62A, 62B, 63A, 63B
  • Find your reps

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)

Grant County ranks 75 (out of 87) for broadband speeds of 100/20: code red

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Grant County is not likely to make the speed goals for either 2022 or 2026. They are particularly behind when it comes to access to 100/20 and there has been little movement forward in the past few years.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Grant 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 43.02 39.93 39.93
25/3 (2022 goal) 87.85 87.85 75.73

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

In 2010, Grant County was part of an unsuccessful attempt by Federated Telephone to get federal (ARRA) funding. At about the same time (2013), the Minnesota Broadband Task Force heard from a librarian in Grant County about broadband access. So, although they have been aware of and working on the broadband issue for a while,  recently there hasn’t been much movement forward.

Grant is in a precarious position for two reasons: more than 10 percent of the county is unserved and more than 50 percent is underserved. This will have an impact on what kind of homework teachers can assign, the ability to start a home business and home resale value.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 75 (down from 65)
  • 25/3 ranking: 40
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 4.5
  • Number of providers: 9

Details:

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)

Goodhue County ranks 50 (out of 87) for access to broadband at 100/20: code yellow

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Goodhue County has a way to go to meet the 2022 or 2026 state speed goals. They have good broadband – in that everyone who has access appears to have access to speeds of 100/20 but only 80 percent of the county has access. They need more of what they have.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Goodhue 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 79.44 55.99 60.33
25/3 (2022 goal) 79.44 77.10 87.46

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Red Wing, in Goodhue County, was a 2015-2016 Blandin Broadband Community,  and has done some innovative programming through Red Wing Ignite, a local organization with national ties.

Goodhue has benefited from several MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Wanamingo – GRANT $768,600
    Serving  597 unserved households, 76 unserved businesses, and 4 unserved community institutions in the City of Wanamingo in Goodhue County in southeastern Minnesota with service levels up to 1 Gbps up and down.
  • 2017 – New Ulm Telecom, Inc. – White Rock Rural East FTTP – GRANT $411,704
    Serving 22 unserved households and 88 unserved businesses in the White Rock area in the northern half of Goodhue County in southeastern Minnesota with services to 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.
  • 2016 – NEW ULM TELECOM, INC. GOODHUE-BELLECHESTER – GRANT: $ 332,328
    Serving 15 unserved households, 46 unserved businesses and 25 underserved households, 43 underserved businesses, and 1 underserved community anchor institution in the city limits and surrounding area of Bellechester in Goodhue County in southeastern MN.
  • 2015 – New Ulm Telecom Goodhue Fiber Project
    Grant award: $115,934
    Building middle mile and last mile infrastructure in Goodhue County, Goodhue Township, near the city of Goodhue to provide state speed goal broadband service to 24 households, businesses, and community institutions.

Last year, Goodhue was part of Blandin Foundation’s report on the community return on public investment in broadband, noting the following investments have been made in the community:

Using formulas devised to measure impact of broadband access, Goodhue has the potential to realize:

Using formulas devised to measure impact of broadband access, Goodhue has the potential to realize:

  • A combined household economic benefit of broadband of $32,774,600

  • A combined increase in residential real estate value of $104,825,572 annually

They are doing good things in Red Wing and Goodhue county (such as a recent $750,000 national award for innovation) but they need to reach the areas without broadband to ensure that the whole county benefits.

Goodhue County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Nuvera and BEVCOMM applied to upgrade service in Goodhue. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 50 (down 3 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 59
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 24
  • Number of providers: 12

Details:

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)

Freeborn County ranks 25 (out of 87) for broadband speeds of 100/20: code yellow

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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 meet the 2022 and 2026 goals.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Freeborn 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 83.88 34.18 94.59
25/3 (2022 goal) 87.92 84.31 99.44

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Freeborn has benefited from three MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telephone) – Freeborn Southwest Rural Final – GRANT $122,460
    Serving 15 unserved households and 17 unserved businesses in the rural Freeborn area, in Freeborn County, completing a Border-to-Border grant build begun there two years ago..
  • 2016 – CANNON VALLEY TELECOM, INC. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL FREEBORN – GRANT:  $150,700
    Serving 10 unserved households, 6 unserved businesses, 9 underserved households, and 6 underserved businesses in the rural Freeborn area in Freeborn County in Southern Minnesota with access of 1 Gigabit per second up and down, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.
  • 2015 – BEVCOMM Cannon Valley Telecom – Rural Freeborn Fiber-to-the-Premises Project
    Grant award: $149,625
    Serving 43 households and 1 business in the rural Freeborn area, in Freeborn County in south-central Minnesota, close to the Minnesota/Iowa border.

Freeborn is also getting almost $2 million in FCC funding but that is over the next 10 years.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 25 (up from 71)
  • 25/3 ranking: 39
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 18.2
  • Number of providers: 12

Details:

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)

Fillmore County ranks 85 (out of 87) for broadband access at speeds of 100/20: code red

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Fillmore County is not poised to meet either the 2022 or 2026 state speed goals. Their improvements over the years have been very incremental and not at pace with other counties.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Fillmore 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 50.30 44.19 44.11
25/3 (2022 goal) 57.89 45.02 59

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Fillmore has benefited from three MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – Rushford Village/Rural Rushford Fiber Build – Grant $2,011,628
    Serving 226 unserved households, 20 unserved businesses, and 289 underserved households, 20 underserved businesses, and 2 underserved community anchor institutions in the Rushford Village/Rural Rushford exchange in Fillmore County with access of a minimum of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) download and 100 megabits per second (Mbps) upload, exceeding the state speed goal set for the year 2026.
  • 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Fountain 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $202,125
    Serving 161 unserved households and 20 unserved businesses, exceeding the 2022 state speed goal of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. The project will unlock opportunities for distance learning, telemedicine, and telecommuting and other increased business development.
  • 2016 – ACENTEK RURAL LANESBORO FIBER BUILD – GRANT: $1,777,936
    Serving 431 unserved households, 42 unserved businesses, and 1 community anchor institution in the rural Lanesboro area, including Whalan, Carrolton Township, and Holt Township with access, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.

In December, Mediacom announced completion of their project, because the maps and data were collected in December, it’s difficult to know whether those households were included in the most recent numbers.

Fillmore County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, MiBroadband applied to upgrade service in Fillmore. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 70 (down from 58)
  • 25/3 ranking: 85
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 9.9
  • Number of providers: 7

Details:

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)

Faribault County ranks 77 (out of 87) for broadband speeds of 100/20: code red

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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. Now the maps track wired only. Regardless, they are not poised to meet speed goals.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Faribault 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 39.20 42.28 49.13
25/3 (2022 goal) 78.31 78.17 81.77

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Faribault was one of the few counties in Minnesota where the broadband was deemed non-competitive for business by the FCC. IN 2018, Faribault County hosted a national broadband listening session.

The county has benefited from MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – BEVCOMM (Easton Telephone Company) – Delavan SE Rural Project – GRANT $220,350
    Serving 25 unserved households and 30 unserved businesses in the Delavan SE Rural Project located in Faribault County with access exceeding the 2022 and 2026 state speed goals.
  • 2016 – BLUE EARTH VALLEY TELEPHONE CO. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL WINNEBAGO – GRANT:  $152,828
    Serving 18 unserved households (including farms), 8 unserved businesses, 2 underserved households, and 3 underserved businesses in the rural Winnebago area in Faribault County in Southern Minnesota.
  • 2015 – BEVCOMM Blue Earth Valley Telephone – Rural Winnebago Fiber-to-the-Premises Project
    Grant award: $142,690
    Providing state speed goal broadband service and above to 30 unserved households and farms in rural Winnebago, in Faribault County in south-central Minnesota.

Here’s an update I got from one of the local providers last year:

Faribault County is mostly served by BEVCOMM and Mediacom. BEVCOMM is a rural ILEC that is not covered by CAF 2 funding, but has recently opted to accept ACAM model support, which will replace rural High Cost USF support.

BEVCOMM is a motivated local provider, making a concerted effort to serve the area’s broadband needs. It has received two Border to Border broadband grants in the last two years in Faribault County, and another 4 grants in other rural areas it serves in Freeborn, Martin and LeSueur counties. The local match for these grants was entirely funded by BEVCOMM, without any local city, township or county funds.

The local paper has been reporting on broadband opportunities. It will be interesting to see if they apply for grants this year. That would clearly help them and they need a concerted effort to improve the odds at meeting the state goals.

Faribault County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, BEVCOMM applied to upgrade service in Faribault. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 77 (down 17 spaces)
  • 25/3 ranking: 62
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 8.6
  • Number of providers: 4

Details:

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)

Douglas County ranks 56 (out of 87) for access to broadband at speeds of 100/20: code red

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Douglas County doesn’t look like they’re in position to meet the MN broadband speed goals for either 2022 or 2026 – but they have been known make some great strides. They went from 26 percent access to 100/20 in 2018 to 69 percent access this year.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Douglas 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 68.82 25.56 7.86
25/3 (2022 goal) 88.25 82.96 75.1

Douglas County has benefited from a number of MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Country Estates FTTH Project – GRANT $101,624
    This last mile project will serve 32 unserved households and 10 unserved businesses in Douglas County near Alexandria. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association will improve broadband service levels to 1Gbps per second down and 1Gbps up, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal. This project will improve this neighborhood’s quality of life, from gaining the ability to perform daily activities such as at-home online homework and telecommuting options, to opening new doors for business development and improved health care.

    Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

  • 2017 – Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association – Douglas County: Pospisil Drive FTTH Project – GRANT $54,155
    Serving 18 unserved households and 6 unserved businesses in the Pospisil Drive Development near Alexandria in Douglas County with speeds exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.
  • 2016 – GARDONVILLE COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE DOUGLAS COUNTY LAKE LOUISE – GRANT: $68,240
    Serving 28 unserved households and 7 unserved businesses in Douglas County near and around Lake Louise with speeds exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.
  • 2016 – RUNESTONE TELEPHONE HOLMES CITY 2 — GRANT: $700,674
    Serving 267 unserved households and 32 unserved businesses in the Holmes City area in Douglas County in northwest central MN with speeds the 2026 state speed goal of 100 Mbps download by 20 Mbps upload.
  • 2015 – Runestone Telephone Association – Holmes City
    Grant award: $189,990
    Building broadband infrastructure in Holmes City, in Douglas County, to provide state speed goal broadband service and above to 93 households, 14 businesses and 1 community anchor institution.

Douglas County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Runestone, Arvig, Charter and Gardonville applied to upgrade service in Douglas. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 56 (up 20 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 36
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 21.2
  • Number of providers: 11

Details:

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)

Dodge County ranks 41 (out of 87) for broadband access to 100/20: code red

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Dodge County is not on track to meet either the 2022 or 2026 speed goals. The numbers over time are too unreliable to gauge a history, but they need a real effort to get to goal speeds.

They are in better shape for the 2026 goal since the percentage covered is fairly close for both speeds.

One benefit of having comparable levels of access  to both 100/20 and 25/3 is that part of the community will not need to deal with legacy broadband;  at least part of their job is done.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Dodge 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 77.08 74.59 94.9
25/3 (2022 goal) 82.78 76.40 99.37

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Dodge County benefited from two MN broadband grants:

  • 2017 – KMTelecom – Rural Kasson Fiber Build – GRANT $606,108
    Serving 149 unserved households and 9 unserved businesses in the rural Canisteo and Ashland Townships located south of Kasson in Dodge County in southeastern Minnesota. KMTelecom will improve broadband service levels to 1 Gbps down and 1 Gbps up, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.
  • 2016 – KMTELECOM RURAL MANTORVILLE – GRANT: $764,663
    Serving 195 unserved households, 9 unserved businesses, and 1 unserved community anchor institution near Mantorville in east central Dodge County, with a small section of west central Olmsted County, in southeastern Minnesota. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, KMTelecom will improve unserved levels to 1 Gigabit per second up and down, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.

They hosted a broadband meeting with the FCC in June 2019.

Dodge County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, KMTelecom applied to upgrade service in Dodge. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 41 (down 15 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 50
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 16.9
  • Number of providers: 9

Details:

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)

Dakota County ranks 7 (out of 87) for broadband access at speeds of 100/20: code green

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Dakota is poised to meet the broadband speed goals for both 2022 and 2026. They saw a great increase in access to speeds of 100/20 since the last mapping.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Dakota 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 97.56 64.89 64.18
25/3 (2022 goal) 98.46 97.54 98.47

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Dakota County has been working for years building a public network that connected government builds with a plan to opening up the network to third party providers. Over the years they have been generous in sharing administration forms and plans to help other communities looking to build better broadband.

They also benefit from being a metro county with higher population density, which makes it easier for a broadband providers to make a business case to offer faster services.

Dakota County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Charter applied to upgrade service in Dakota. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 7 (up 33 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 11
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 258.9
  • Number of providers: 16

Details:

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)

Crow Wing ranks 21 (out of 87) for broadband speeds of 100/20: code yellow

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Crow Wing County looks like they could meet the speeds goals with some concerted effort. Actually the 2026 goal seems more likely than 2022. What is inspiring is the progress they have made since last year – from 42 percent coverage to 88 percent.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Crow Wing 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 88.04 41.66 33.13
25/3 (2022 goal) 92.84 92.29 87.78

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Crow Wing has benefited from three MN broadband grants:

  • 2016 – TDS TELECOM CASS & CROW WING COUNTIES — GRANT: $3,000,000
    Serving 3459 unserved households, 62 unserved businesses, and 4 community anchor institutions in Cass and Crow Wing counties in north central Minnesota including Backus, Hackensack, Ideal Corners, Pequot Lakes, Pine River, and Woman Lake. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, TDS Telecom (dba Arvig Telephone Company) will improve unserved levels to the 2022 state speed goal of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.
  • 2015 – Consolidated Telecommunications Company – Fort Ripley Phase II
    Grant award: $759,525
    Consolidated Telecommunication Company will build out broadband infrastructure in the Fort Ripley area adjacent to Highway 371 to provide state speed goal broadband service and above to an additional 272 households.
  • 2014 – Consolidated Telephone Cooperative, Region 5 Virtual Highway Project
    Award: $2 million. Total project cost: $4.22 million. Impact: Service to 247 unserved and 90 underserved premises in Cass, Crow Wing and Morrison counties.

Crow Wing was a Blandin Broadband Community as part of the Region 5 (the Resilient Region) 2015-2016 cohort.

Crow Wing County was one of the communities studied  as part of Blandin Foundation’s 2017Measuring Community ROI report . The following public investments have been made:

  • $5 million bonding for schooltechnology (2002)
  • $5 million ARRA funding to serve Crow Wing and Cass
  • $2 million Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Grant (2015) to CTC to serve Crow Wing and Cass
  • $3 million Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Grant (2016) to TDS to serve Crow Wing and Cass
  • $123,450 from Blandin Foundation to support broadband adoption projects in the Resilient Region, which includes Crow Wing County
  • Total: $15,123,450

Using formulas devised to measure the impact of broadband access, Crow Wing has the potential to realize from this investment:

  • A combined household economic benefit of broadband of $67,412,150 annually
  • A combined increase in residential real estate value of $214,662,149

In September 2019, Senator Klobuchar’s staff held a listening session in Crow Wing County. They spoke with a local provider (CTC) about the need for government support to build networks in rural areas. CTC pointed out that when funding is slowed, it slows down the process of getting access to everyone.

Crow Wing County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, CTC applied to upgrade service in Crow Wing. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 21 (up 40 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 26
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 22.5
  • Number of providers: 10

Details:

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)

Cottonwood County ranks 59 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 broadband: code red

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Cottonwood County is not poised to meet the 2022 or 2026 MN state speed goals. Prior to 2018 they made great progress toward  the 2026 goal, but they have seen little progress  since then.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Cottonwood 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 66.67 66.34 19.24
25/3 (2022 goal) 74.17 67.89 60.52

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Windom, the county seat, participated in Blandin Foundation’s 2009-2012 Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Program. Frustrated with poor internet connectivity, in 2004 the residents of Windom voted in favor of a municipal network, and construction of the fiber-to-the-home system began in 2004.  The Institute for Local Self Reliance has estimated a yearly community benefit from WindomNet of over $400,000.

Cottonwood has worked with the Blandin Foundation. Cottonwood County has benefited from two state broadband grants:

  • 2016 – WOODSTOCK TELEPHONE WESTBROOK – GRANT: $412,391
    Serviging 368 unserved households, 29 unserved businesses, and 7 unserved community anchor institutions in the city of Westbrook in Cottonwood County in southwest Minnesota.
  • 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile
    Grant award: $808,080
    A Middle Mile broadband infrastructure buildout to upgrade backhaul capacity between site locations within 20 southwestern Minnesota counties that will improve services to state speed goal levels and above to 6,000 households and businesses that are current MVTV customers, with leverage possibility of 29,000 more. The counties are: Blue Earth, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Rock, Redwood, Renville, Sibley Swift, Watonwan, and Yellow Medicine.

In 2018 they also benefited from a partnership between SDN Communications and the Southwest West Central (SWWC) Service Cooperative building a fiber-based internet service that will connect  more than 30 school districts, including Cottonwood.

They will need to make a concerted effort to make the 2026 goal, but they have done it before so they may be able to succeed.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 59 (down 21 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 68
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
  • Household density: 7.5
  • Number of providers: 13

Details:

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)

Cook County ranks 13 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 broadband: code green

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Cook County is close to meeting the 2022 state speed goals and seemingly on track to meet the 2026 goals. The only concern is that the coverage has not changed in three years. They need a little push.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Cook 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 94.50 94.50 94.50
25/3 (2022 goal) 98.8 98.87 97.56

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Cook County suffered for years because all telecommunications depended on a single fiber line.  As late as 2008, dial-up was still the only choice for many residents, businesses and visitors. A grant from Blandin Foundation and a matching contribution from the County, along with additional support from Arrowhead Electric Coop, funded a feasibility study to examine the problem and potential solutions.

Based on the results of the feasibility study, the Cook County Board of Commissioners took up the idea of developing a fiber network for the county’s residents, businesses and government. The Board passed an ordinance in December 2009 declaring that a broadband network was in the best interests of the County and created the Fiber Optic Network Commission. Cook County  formed a partnership with Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, which applied for and was awarded over $16 million in federal stimulus grants and low interest loans to build a fiber-to-the-home broadband network throughout Cook County.

In addition, Cook County awarded Arrowhead Cooperative a $4 million grant from the 1% sales tax fund.

(Cook County was featured in CoBank’s report in the last year Making the Move to Broadband: Rural Electric Co-ops Detail Their Experience.)

Cook County clearly benefits from the community’s early activism,  but  they will still need to  push to reach the 2026 speed goals. Cook County was part of  Blandin Foundation’s Minnesota Intelligent Rural Community Program in 2009 – 2012.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 13 (down 3 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 20
  • Has worked with Blandin: yes
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: .7
  • Number of providers: 3

Details:

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)

Clearwater County ranks 17 (of 87) for access to 100/20 broadband: code yellow

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Clearwater County is likely to meet the state speed goals for 2022; but the outlook isn’t as clear for 2026.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Clearwater 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 89.3 89.3 73.41
25/3 (2022 goal) 99.74 99.58 99.58

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Clearwater has been well poised for broadband for several years, but there has been little improvement in the last couple years. There is almost ubiquitous coverage for 25/3 access but they need more to reach the 2026 goals.

In 2018, Garden Valley Telephone Company received a $20 million loan from the USDA to make system improvements (fiber-optic facilities and construct fiber-to-the-premises) in Polk, Clearwater, Pennington, Marshall and Red Lake counties, and in the vacation resort areas of Maple Lake and Union Lake. That may be the leap the county needs to close the gap for the 2026 goal.

There are 7 providers in Clearwater, but you can see from the map below that much of Clearwater County is served by only one provider and that is not a national provider. It can be difficult to persuade a national provider to upgrade in areas where the business case is not clear. But there is (at least) one area where there is competition. There are several providers in the county that provide speeds to meet the 2026 goals. It’s a matter of working with those providers to encourage upgrades in the areas that are currently underserved.

Clearwater has not benefited from a MN broadband grant – yet. The grant program has prioritized geographic diversity among awardees but there were no applications submitted for 2019 that might help.

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 17 (down 4 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 4
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 3.4
  • Number of providers: 7

Details:

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)

Clay County ranks 29 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 broadband: code yellow

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Clay County may reach the 2022 speed goals but seems unlikely to meet the 2026 goals that being said, they have made bold leaps in the past. They will need another leap to get to the 2026 goals.

Percentage of Served Population by Speed and Date
Clay 2019 2018 2017
100/20 (2026 goal) 82.32 82.52 74.13
25/3 (2022 goal) 95.82 95.45 83.15

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Back in 2010, Clay County made the list of the nine unserved counties in Minnesota based on the FCC Annual Broadband Report, which defined broadband as 4 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. Clearly Clay County has improved since then. Maybe proximity to North Dakota has helped, but again they will need a push like they had 10 years ago.

In 2018, Red River Valley Coop got $1.5 million USDA loan going into the area for smartgrid development; perhaps that investment can be used to leverage future broadband builds. Short of that, the county will need to mount  a concerted effort to close the gaps to the 2026 state speed goal.

Clay County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Arvig applied to upgrade service in Clay. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

  • 100/20 ranking: 29 (down 10 places)
  • 25/3 ranking: 18
  • Has worked with Blandin: no
  • Has received a MN Broadband grant: no
  • Household density: 21.2
  • Number of providers: 9

Details:

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)