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.

Chisago’s ranking has dipped from 29 to 32. They have been fortunate with state broadband grants in the past and those new connections are probably not included in the most recent mapping.

Also Chisago County has been a Blanidn Broadband Community, where they worked on broadband adoption projects such as a survey that indicated that 94 percent of the population would subscribe to better broadband if available.

Chisago County Economic Developer, Nancy Hoffman has been active in promoting broadband funding to the Legislature. And local Representative Neu has supported funding.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 32

• Chisago County has worked with the Blandin Foundation
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 32 & 39
  House: 32A, 32B, 39A

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.

Chippewa’s ranking has dropped from 69 to 77. But they are working toward change. Late in 2017, Chippewa was part of an informal Internet study, then in April they released a more in-depth and detailed feasibility study…

We view the hybrid fiber and wireless solution as a great first step towards improving broadband. This option would bring fiber immediately to about a third of the rural homes in the county, including the town of Watson. The fiber constructed for this scenario is a first step in getting fiber closer to everybody in the county. We think a reasonable business plan is to start with the hybrid option and extend fiber to everybody over time.

Our analysis shows that it is not economically feasible to build fiber everywhere in the county using the existing Border-to-Border grant program—the 50% grant matching in that program is not enough to create a sustainable network. However, the hybrid fiber and wireless solutions all look to be economically viable.

The report discusses the next steps the county needs to take after digesting the results of this study. These include such things as looking for a partner to bring broadband to those areas without it today. The goal would be to have a partner by next year to be ready for future state grant funds.

It’s a step in the right direction. They recognize the issue and they are investigating options.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 77

• Find more articles on broadband in Chippewa County. (http://tinyurl.com/htwz58a)
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 17
  House: 17A

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.

Cass County’s ranking has dropped from 61 to 70. They gained 10 percent increase in access to 25/3 but only one percent (almost 2) in access to 100/20. The discouraging thing is that means that they are making upgrades but not upgrades that will meet the needs of the future.

Good news is that Paul Bunyan recently announced they are extending their FTTH Gigazone to areas of the Leech Lake reservation and Cass Lake.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 70

• Find more articles on broadband in Cass County. (http://tinyurl.com/hgtulgm)
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 05 & 09
  House: 05A, 05B, 09A

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.

Carver County ranking has moved up from 17 to 18. One of the advantages they have is Carvernet, a network of dark fiber. One potential concern is that their coverage for 25/3 is good and might open the door to losing interest in improvement but the recent incremental improvement allays that concern at least somewhat.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 17

• Find more articles on broadband in Carver County. (http://tinyurl.com/jxj9v9x)
• Districts: CD 3 & 6
  Senate: 33 & 47
  House: 33B, 47A, 47B

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.

Carlton County has moved down the ranking from 40 to 44. At the end of 2017, the county got a state grant for over $500,000. That should help with improvements in the future and shows a marked effort in striving for better broadband

Carlton County is part of a collaboration with neighboring counties (Carlton, Aitkin, Kanabec, Pine, Mille Laces) called the East Central Broadband Initiative. They were also a Blandin Broadband Community, which means they have a focus on increasing broadband use in the community.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 44

• Carlton County has worked with the Blandin Foundation
• Find more articles on broadband in Carlton County. (http://tinyurl.com/z4me5k4)
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 11
  House: 11A

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.

Blue Earth County has been bumped from ranking of 37 to 83. Part of the issue is that many counties have seen improvement and Blue Earth has actually seen a decline in coverage.

Even with the apparent discrepancy from last year to this, Blue Earth is in a position where last year they looked like they were in OK shape and this year they don’t and they are in even worse position for reaching the 2026 goals. In fact they are one of the few counties in Minnesota where the broadband was deemed non-competitive for business by the FCC.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 83

• Find more articles on broadband in Big Stone County. (http://tinyurl.com/j5pe9kr)
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate:
  House: 19A, 19B, 23B, 23B

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.

Big Stone is one of the rural counties in Minnesota that is looking good for meeting their 2026 goals. They are currently ranked 4th in the state – up from 25 last year. In 2015, Federated Telephone received almost $4 million in state funding to upgrade to FTTH and the impact is showing.

In January, Big Stone was part of an Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Center study on broadband speeds in various points of their region.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 4

• Find more articles on broadband in Big Stone County. (http://tinyurl.com/zfgwstd)
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 12
  House: 12A

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.

Last year Benton County ranked 74 for access to broadband at speeds of 100/20; this year they have slipped to 75. In years past, Benton County has seen a great discrepancy between wired and wireless access. While I’m not tracking that this year, there is a great discrepancy between progress toward 2022 and 2026 goals, which means they have decent coverage but not at speeds that will suffice for the long term.

Last fall, Benton County was part of a project that received a $765,000 Minnesota Broadband grant. The benefits of that project would not yet be reflected in these numbers. So, there are improvements on the way.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 75

• Benton County has worked with the Blandin Foundation
• Find more articles on broadband in Benton County. (http://tinyurl.com/zuk3zeg)
• See last year’s profile
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• Districts: CD 6
  Senate: 13, 14, 15
  House: 13B, 14B, 15B

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.

When last we checked, Beltrami was ranked number 6 for broadband access (using 2016 speed goals); this year they are ranked 8. But while slipping, they are still in good shape with 96+ percent coverage.

They have two engaged providers in Paul Bunyan and Arvig. Paul Bunyan continues to grow their network in the area; they won an international innovation award last fall.

Beltrami County was one of the communities we studied last fall for the Measuring Community ROI report. We looked at the community investments and results…

The following investments have been made in the community:

• $1.4 million to buy and renovate the Historic Mayflower Building into the LaunchPad supported in part by Greater Bemidji, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and Paul Bunyan Communications
• $32,000 in Broadband Innovation Grants from Blandin Foundation
• Total: $1,432,000

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

• A combined household economic benefit of broadband of $38,631,700 annually
• A combined increase in residential real estate value of $102,593,266

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 8

• Find more articles on broadband in Beltrami County. (http://tinyurl.com/z5yvec6)
• See last year’s profile
• Districts: CD 7 & 8
  Senate: 2, 5
  House: 02A, 05A

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.

Becker’s ranking is down from last year; from 81 to 85. It’s not a huge leap, but it’s in the wrong direction. Last year Paul Bunyan got a Minnesota Broadband Grant to improve broadband. Becker also qualifies for some of the CAF II funding.

Paul Bunyan would upgrade to FTTH and that may be the bump we see in access to 100/20. Unfortunately, the CAF II providers only need to upgrade to 10/1.

Becker County needs to get working if they want to meet the 2026 speed goals. The local residents are feeling the pinch, including one fifth grader who sent a letter to the County Commissioners asking them to do more…

Dear County Commissioners,

Hello. My name is C.M. I an in the 5th grade and 11 years old. I live on Pearl Lake Drive. Today I am writing about the lack of internet. I use the internet for my school work and I will use it a lot more as I get older. I like to play video games too. Our internet is limited and expensive. I hope you take this into consideration. We need better internet for our neighborhood.

Thank you for your time,

C.M

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 85

• Find more articles on broadband in Becker County. (http://tinyurl.com/jkah37b)
• See last year’s profile
• Districts: CD 7
  Senate: 02, 04
  House: 2B

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.

Last year Anoka was ranked number #7 for broadband access; this year they have moved up to number 5. We haven’t tracked much happening in the state since the last broadband profile in 2017. They are still ranking well – and their ranking is improving.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 5

• Find more articles on broadband in Anoka County.(http://tinyurl.com/zuvt4x7)
• See last year’s profile
• Districts: CD 6
  Senate: 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41
  House: 31A, 31B, 35A, 35B, 36A, 36B, 37A, 37B, 38A, 41A, 41B

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.

Aitkin has ranked near the bottom for some time now. Their ranking has dropped since last year (from 76 to 82). In fact they are one of the few counties in Minnesota where the broadband was deemed non-competitive for business by the FCC. There is frustration in the community.

They have been part of the BBC (Blandin Broadband Communities) and IRBC (Iron Range Broadband Communities) so there have been efforts made to promote better broadband. Over the summer I had the chance to meet with folks in the county to talk about their various broadband projects (hot spots and training). They have been building demand with hotspots in town and SCI (Savage Communications Inc) had recently decided to bring FTTH in Palisade!

More good news, SCI got a Minnesota broadband grant late in 2017 and they will be bringing better broadband to 374 households near Big Sandy Lake.

One caution is that while broadband has improved in the area – the numbers indicate that some of the improvement is lower than speeds of 100/20. Improvement will feel good for a while but they are not improving with fast enough speeds to keep up with the 2026 state speed goals.

Info on Access:

The speeds reflect the Minnesota speed goals:

• 25 Mbps down and 3 up by 2022
• 100 Mbps down and 20 up by 2026

Current ranking for 100/20 access: 82

• Aitkin County has worked with the Blandin Foundation
• Find more articles on broadband in Aitkin County. (http://tinyurl.com/hdqdmhr)
• There is a matrix of Minnesota broadband adoption projects; it includes projects from this area.
• See last year’s profile.
• Districts: CD 8
  Senate: 10
  House: 10B