Beltrami County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2024	#12 of 87	98.73%
2023	#12 of 87	98.75%
2022	#8 of 87	98.86%
2021	#6 of 87	99.25%
2020	#5 of 87	99.25%
2019	#6 of 87	98.79%
2018	#8 of 87	96.3%
2017	#6 of 87	96.35%

Red dots represent unserved locations.

Wired (wireline) and wireless (fixed, non-mobile) served location percentage at various speeds.

Beltrami County Well Served Thanks to Paul Bunyan

Beltrami County ranks 12 for broadband access; same as last year. They have hovered around 99 percent access to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since 2019. The effort to get ubiquitous broadband stems from local cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications.

A recent report noted that Paul Bunyan’s investment has led to business growth. In Oct 2024, The Center on Rural Innovation looked at Paul Bunyan’s impact in the community: “…And based on Beltrami County’s steady business growth it seems Paul Bunyan Communications’ approach is paying off. Since 2010, the number of businesses in Beltrami County has grown by 12.1% (which amounts to an average annual increase of 1.1%), outperforming both the state and the country as a whole…”

• Over the years, Beltrami County (or cities within) has not invested for matches any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Beltrami County will not benefit from a recent MN Broadband grant.
• Beltrami County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $230,000 to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Beltrami ranked 40 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• They have an engaged cooperative provider and it seems likely that they should reach the goal of ubiquitous broadband. It’s worth noting that they rank number 4 for Gig access.