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Mille Lacs County

Table of goal data by year
Year Rank 100/20 Mbps
2023 #75 of 87 68.72%
2022 #73 of 87 66.71%
2021 #72 of 87 60.1%
2020 #70 of 87 58.9%
2019 #67 of 87 52.77%
2018 #49 of 87 54.42%
2017 #47 of 87 47.07%

Mille Lacs County: New Provider in the Area Might Help

Mille Lacs County ranks 75 (down two points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 68.72 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up in 2022. They have 3659 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $34 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Mille Lacs County was part of the Blandin Broadband Communities (BBC) initiative from 2012-2014. In November (2022), the Mille Lacs County Board of Commissioners met to hear about broadband options. The outgoing Economic Development Manager Mike Wimmer spoke optimistically of East Central Energy new entry to the broadband provider business.

In December 2022, SCI received $476,108 in Border to Border funding to serve 146 unserved households and 3 Businesses within areas of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Reservation and Northern Mille Lacs County, with Fiber to the Home and Benton got $1.1 million to serve 32 unserved households, 407 unserved business and farms, and 1 unserved township hall in Borgholm Township located in Mille Lacs County.

East Central Energy has applied for funding to serve Mille Lacs County in the latest (and open) round of Border to Border funding.

Mille Lacs is engaging with multiple broadband providers and that will stand them in good stand when federal (BEAD) funding becomes available. But for now they retain their red ranking.

Household Density

17.2

Number of Providers

15

As of 2023 · Source: MN DEED

Households with Device Access

A Device 84.4% 95.5%
statewide
Desktop or Laptop 70.4% 83.2%
statewide
Smartphone 68.3% 90.1%
statewide
Tablet 52.0% 65.8%
statewide
Other 2.8% 2.3%
statewide

Has Worked with Blandin Foundation

Yes

Has Received MN Grant(s)

Yes

2016 – BENTON COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE COMPANY BOCK – GRANT: $510,000

2019 – Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Ramey Phase I – GRANT $936,759

MN State Grants awarded in 2021: Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) – Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (Onamia) Broadband Expansion – GRANT $70,261 This last mile fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project will serve 102 unserved households within the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Reservation in Mille Lacs County.

Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Ramey Phase 2 Project – GRANT $338,011 This last mile project will serve 119 unserved locations in the Ramey telephone exchange located in portions of Lakin and Mount Morris townships in Morrison County and a small portion of Dailey and Page townships located in Mille Lacs County.

2022 – Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) – Northern Mille Lacs County 2022: Broadband Expansion – GRANT $476,108

Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Borgholm Township Project – GRANT $1,118,289 (Learn more)

Government Districts

U.S. Congress: CD 8

MN Senate: 10, 27

MN House: 10A, 10B, 27B

Find Your Representatives

Overlapping MN Reservations

Mille Lacs Reservation

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