In 2014, Isanti County’s broadband coverage was 55 percent (broadband was defined at a slower speed); currently they have 54 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 49 percent coverage for speeds of 100/20. Their coverage is slipping.

They are a county of haves and have-nots. Most of the people who have broadband seem to have access to 100/20 but less than half of the county has coverage at all. Looking again at the 2014 data, the county broadband coverage is 91 percent if you include wireless options. I suspect that means that there are households that are using hotspots, with expensive data caps, for the primary broadband connection.

Part of Isanti County was included in Anoka County’s ARRA project back in 2010. Cambridge was active in promoting broadband through an early Blandin Foundation program called Got Broadband. To ensure broadband improvements, Isanti would do well to renew that interest in broadband.

Isanti County is in line to receive $1,897,923 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 5,504 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Isanti County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 53.52
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 49.29

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Isanti ranked:

DDI score of 32.61 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Isanti County. (http://tinyurl.com/gozt2ka)   
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 31 & 32
  House: 31A, 32A

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, Houston County’s broadband coverage was 69 percent (broadband was defined at a slower speed); currently they have 72 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 65 percent coverage for speeds of 100/20. So it seems that there is a provider in Houston County that is providing high speed broadband. To increase coverage Houston needs to expand the service they currently have.

Houston has been strong with online K12 education; perhaps that can be a hook to encourage more work in the county to promote better broadband.

Houston County is also in line to receive $137,605 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 178 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Houston County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 72.23
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 65.08

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Houston ranked:

DDI score of 37.76 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Houston County. (http://tinyurl.com/zst4kf5)
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 28
  House: 28B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, Hennepin County’s broadband coverage was 98 percent (broadband was defined at a slower speed); currently they have 99 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 98 percent coverage for speeds of 100/20. Much of Hennepin County is served because it is a market success. There population density is high, many multiple family dwellings and lots of business. There is a lot of competition between the incumbent telephone and cable companies and US Internet, which has focused on gig (even 10 gig) access at low prices.

There have been some parts Hennepin County that have banded together to encourage providers, which indicates that even in urban areas there are access issues.

Hennepin County is also in line to receive $92,485 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 305 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

In 2013, Hennepin County received a nice nod as a top digital counties list noting one that at the end of 2012 that Hennepin County reduced Medicaid costs by 40 percent to 90 percent for its most expensive participants through a pilot program called Hennepin Health

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Hennepin County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 99.16
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 98.57

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Hennepin ranked:

DDI score of 21.7 out of 100.

More info:

• 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

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, Grant County’s broadband coverage was 85 percent (broadband was defined at a slower speed); then have since dropped to 75 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 40 percent coverage for speeds of 100/20.So they are in a position to continue slipping unless the community and/or local providers make a concerted effort to expand broadband and upgrade broadband.

Grant County is in line to receive $48,629 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 58 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Grant County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 75.73
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 39.93

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Grant ranked:

DDI score of 39.85 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Grant County. (http://tinyurl.com/z9n7ea6)

• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 12
  House: 12A

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, Goodhue County broadband coverage was 67 percent. They were stronger in connecting anchor institutions than local residents. Today, broadband coverage is 87 percent for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up)  and 60 percent for 100/20, the state speed goals for 2026.

Good news, Goodhue has received State Broadband funding in 2015 and 2016 (awarded in 2017) to increase broadband.

Recently, New Ulm Telecom Inc. received $332,328 to serve 15 unserved households, 46 unserved businesses, 25 underserved households, 43 underserved businesses and 1 underserved community anchor institution in the area of Bellechester in Goodhue County.

In 2015, NU-Telecom received $115,934 to build out broadband infrastructure in Goodhue Township.

Goodhue County is also in line to receive $1,104361 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,991 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Goodhue County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 87.46
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 60.33

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Goodhue ranked:

DDI score of 35.73 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Goodhue County. (http://tinyurl.com/z3jwte4)
• Districts: CD 2
  Sentate: 21, 58
  House: 21A, 21B, 58B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

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 Minnesota broadband grants.

Most recently BEVCOMM got $150,700 for a project that will serve 10 unserved households, six unserved businesses, nine underserved households and six underserved businesses in the rural Freeborn area in Freeborn County. The Cannon Valley Telecom project will improve access to health care and education. The total eligible project cost is $376,750, with a $226,050 local match.

In 2015, BEVCOMM got 149,625 to build out broadband infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet service to 43 households and one business in rural Freeborn in south-central Minnesota’s Freeborn County. Total project costs are $393,750. BEVCOMM will cover the remaining $244,125 (62 percent local match).

Freeborn County is also in line to receive $934,480 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,295 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

The community has been vocal in their support of broadband funding. A year ago (Jan 2016) the Albert Lea Tribune had this to say about broadband…

Internet is becoming something that is not only a helpful tool, but a necessity — at least for our business.
We imagine we are not the only business in Freeborn County that relies on the Internet for much of its operations.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Freeborn County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 99.44
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 95.59

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Freeborn ranked:

DDI score of 41.64 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Freeborn County. (http://tinyurl.com/hw7ptnz)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 27
  House: 27A, 27B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Fillmore County broadband status is slipping. In 2014, 69 percent of the county had access to broadband (broadband was defined with slower speeds); now 59 percent of the county has access to broadband as speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 44 percent have access to 100/20. Unless they take action, their standing will continue to slip.

Just before the 2014 check in on the county, Fillmore had seen a leap in access (from 7 to 69 percent) in large part due to upgrades CenturyLink made with CAF 2 funding. Unfortunately, it looks like those upgrades were not uniformly enough to poise Fillmore for better broadband in the future.  Fillmore County is  in line to receive $924,070 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1009 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

There seems to be some mixed views on broadband in the community. In May, the Fillmore County Journal suggested that broadband should not be a priority…

If you ask me, don’t waste $100 million on increasing Internet speeds. Direct those funds toward the aesthetics of small town Minnesota. There’s no sense in increasing Internet speeds to dilapidated buildings. We need to get our priorities straight.

Later last summer, however, there was a public meeting in Preston where 30-40 people came to talk about broadband, specifically to talk about the Minnesota Broadband grant project. AcenTek, one local provider, was there talking about their plans for updating connectivity to FTTH. Fiber is their long plan but they can only afford to do so many upgrades at a time.

AcenTek did get a grant for $1,777,936 to serve 400+ households , 42 businesses and 1 community anchor institution in the rural Lanesboro area. The county is chipping in on a local match of $2.9 million. AcenTek is promising 1 Gigabit service.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Fillmore County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 59.00
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 44.11

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Fillmore ranked:

DDI score of 45.13 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Fillmore County. (http://tinyurl.com/hxe6jal)
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 28
  House: 28B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Post updated 2/18/2017

In 2014, 38 percent of Faribault County had access to broadband. Today 81 percent of the county has access to speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) but only 49 percent have access to broadband speeds of 100/20, which are the 2026 state broadband goal.

Faribault has done well to expand coverage in the last couple of years but to prepare for the future, they need to look at better (faster) broadband and continued expansion or they will be in the same position they were in 2014.

A new Minnesota Broadband grant will help expand and upgrade broadband. Blue Earth Valley Telephone Co. got $152,828 to help serve 18 unserved households (including farms), eight unserved businesses, two underserved households and three underserved businesses in rural Winnebago in Faribault County. Blue Earth Valley Telephone will improve services that will help livestock and grain farmers in the region. The total eligible project cost is $382,070, with a $229,242 local match.

Faribault County is also in line to receive $176,448 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 256 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Thanks to Jim Beattie for more info (I’m pulling from comments below):

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 CAF 2 funding designated for Faribault County will be received by Frontier Communications, the local provider in the community of Kiester, MN. The 2010 census indicated that there were 246 households in Kiester, which is likely reduced in 2017 given demographic trends in Faribault County. So the 256 locations covered by CAF 2 funding covers most, if not all, of the Frontier service area there.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Faribault County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 81.77
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 49.13

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Faribault ranked:

DDI score of 45.13 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Faribault County. (http://tinyurl.com/jzwv3gx)
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 23, 27
  House: 23A, 27A

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, only 16 percent of Douglas County has access to broadband. Today 75 percent of the county has access to speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) but only 7 percent have access to broadband speeds of 100/20, which are the 2026 state broadband goal.

Douglas has done well to expand coverage in the last couple of years but to prepare for the future, they need to look at better broadband and continued expansion or they will be in the same position they were in 2014. The folks in Douglas County have been vocal. In March 2016, Minnesota Senate heard from community leaders, including Owen Miller from Douglas County about their frustration with local service.

The good news is that Douglas County will get a boost from two Minnesota State Broadband grants. Runestone Telecom Association received a grant of $700,674 that will bring high-speed Internet service to 267 households and 32 businesses in the Holmes City area. Runestone will build on a 2015 broadband grant to expand further into that area. Another broadband grant, this one for $68,240, was awarded to Gardonville Cooperative Telephone. The project will serve 28 unserved households and seven unserved businesses in the Lake Louise area.

Douglas County is also in line to receive $150,194 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 400 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Douglas County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 75.10
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 7.68

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Douglas ranked:

DDI score of 39.99 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Douglas County. (http://tinyurl.com/jqpohsc)
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 8, 12
  House: 8B, 12A, 12B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Dodge County is well served. It was well served when I last looked in 2014 (99 percent covered) and remains well covered today with 99 percent coverage at speeds of 25/3 and 95 percent coverage at speeds of 100/20.

Dodge may get a little help increasing access with a Minnesota Broadband grant for service in Mantorville:

KMTelecom, Rural Mantorville – $764,663. This project will serve 195 unserved households, nine unserved businesses and one unserved community anchor institution near Mantorville. The KMTelecom project will improve access to education and health care and encourage business development in the area. The total eligible project cost is $1.96 million, with a $1.2 million local match. [Dodge County]

Dodge County is also in line to receive $985,458 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,508 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Dodge County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 99.37
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 94.90

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Dodge ranked:

DDI score of 20.33 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Dodge County. (http://tinyurl.com/znpmlfr)
• Districts: CD 1 / 21, 24, 25 & 27

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2014, Dakota’s coverage was 64 percent. They are now up to 98 percent at speeds of 25/3 and 64 percent at speeds of 100/20. They have built the network through the County. The County has been very purposeful about growing their network by partnering with anchor institutions, the State local governments and other counties. More recently they have been pushing to extend the network to local residents and businesses. They had applied for the latest round of Minnesota Broadband grants but were not award one.

The County has been an advocate for Dig Once and a leader in streamlining broadband deployment by streamlining permitting processes and they have been generous with sharing policies and forms as a model to other counties.

Dakota County is also in line to receive $763,925 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,893 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Dakota County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 98.47
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 64.18

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Dakota ranked:

DDI score of 15.60 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Dakota County. (http://tinyurl.com/hxslue9)
• Districts: CD 2 / 51, 52, 54, 56, 57 & 58

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Crow Wing County is in Region 5 (the Resilient Region) and has been working with them on their broadband planning. In 2014, only 37 percent of Crow Wing had access to broadband (defined at a slower speed back then) now they have 87 percent coverage at speeds of 25/3 but only 33 percent coverage at speeds of 100/20, the 2026 Minnesota speed goal. So good work is happening but good work needs to continue, especially to reach the faster speed goals or Crow Wing will be in the same position ten years from now as they were two years ago.

In 2015, Consolidated Telephone Cooperative (CTC) received a $2 million Minnesota Broadband Grant to bring high-speed Internet to 247 unserved and 90 underserved locations in Cass, Crow Wing and Morrison counties. This year TDS was awarded a $3 million Minnesota Broadband Grant and will  invest another $3 million to expand and improve rural broadband services in parts of Crow Wing and Cass Counties. Specifically, they will expand broadband service and high-speed wireless Internet access to serve more than 3,400 unserved households and a variety of local organizations. Included among the latter are more than 60 businesses, 142 small enterprises, and a number of community “anchor” institutions. The project will impact residents and businesses in parts of Backus, Hackensack, Ideal Corners, Pequot Lakes, Pine River, and Woman Lake, according to a TDS press release.

Projects funded by the state must be scalable to 100/20 so these new networks will help get Crow Wing covered.

Crow Wing County is also in line to receive $919,145 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 2,286 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Crow Wing County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 87.78
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 33.13

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Cook ranked:

DDI score of 32.08 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Crow Wing County. (http://tinyurl.com/zechgaw)

• Districts: CD 8 / 10

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Cottonwoods coverage has not changed much since 2014; back then broadband coverage was 60 percent and that is what it is today for speeds of 25/3. (Back in 2014 the definition of broadband was slower.) Unfortunately for Cottonwood, the coverage is only at 19 percent for 100/60, the speed goals for 2026.

Cottonwood, like many counties, has service in and around the bigger town (Windom) outside of that area they have very little. Cottonwood is in a position where they need to focus on both wider coverage and better coverage or they will find themselves on the list of least served counties. They will get some help with the most recent State Broadband grant awards. Woodstock Telephone received $412,391 to upgrade services in Cottonwood.

Recently Representative Rod Hamilton had a letter to the editor in AgWeek, in favor of the State Broadband grant challenge process – which allowed incumbent providers to challenge and provider looking to provide service in their area (or planned area). He was also in favor of serving unserved areas. His view may be shortsighted given the broadband outlook in his own community. He has areas that are currently unserved (40 percent) but he also has areas that are under-served (80 percent) and will not meet the speed goals for 2026.

Cottonwood County is in line to receive $1,090,723 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 1,388 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Cottonwood County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 60.52
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 19.24

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Cottonwood ranked:

DDI score of 54.12 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Cottonwood County. (http://tinyurl.com/gnqcknv)

• Districts: CD 1 / 22

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

Cook County has gone from the least served list to the best served list thanks in large part to receiving an ARRA grant. When I looked at Cook County in 2014, fiber was being deployed but they only had 20 percent coverage, now they have 94 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 and 100/20.

Cook County was a Minnesota Intelligent Rural Community (MIRC) participant so while they were building broadband, they were also building demand.

Cook County is in line to receive $1,447,038 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 3,458 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Cook County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 94.50
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 94.46

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Cook ranked:

DDI score of 46.79 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Cook County. (http://tinyurl.com/hgbzlt7)

• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 8 / 03

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!

In 2010, Clearwater County made the list of one of the nine worst served counties in Minnesota. Now they are number 4 county in the state with more than 99 percent coverage for speeds of 25/3 (Mbps down/up) and 73 percent coverage for speeds of 100/20. The local provider is Garden Valley Telephone Cooperative, they have made serious upgrades to their network. I know they have received federal funding but I don’t know that the upgrades funded were in Clearwater. Garden Valley has also received state funds, but not for Clearwater County.

Garden Valley is one of a few cooperatives in Minnesota that has been able to bring high speed broadband connectivity to their rural customers.

Clearwater County is in line to receive $58,269 in CAF 2 funding to upgrade 102 locations. Unfortunately CAF 2 recipients are only required to upgrade to 10/1 access. Many may choose to upgrade to better speeds but there are no requirements.

Numbers:

The Office of Broadband Development released data on broadband covered in fall of 2016, based on information gathered in July 2016. Here’s how Clearwater County ranked:

• Percentage served with 25/3 or better: 99.58
• Percentage served with 100/20 or better: 73.41

Mississippi State University Extension have come up with a ranking system to gauge the digital divide index (DDI) by county. (The lower the number the better – the state average is 40.66.) Here’s how Clearwater ranked:

DDI score of 47.01 out of 100.

More info:

• Find more articles on broadband in Clearwater County. (http://tinyurl.com/homdjrt)
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 02
  House: 02A, 02B

I plan to profile each county in Minnesota – tracking broadband access, digital divide and annotated links to news of what’s happening with broadband in the county. I’m keeping it high level because there are 87 counties!