Beltrami County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
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%

Coverage Map

Rank: 8 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps)

Beltrami County ranks 8 for broadband access and 42 for digital equity out of 87 counties. The have hovered around 99 percent access to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since 2019. There is a slight dip in access this year but it is within a margin of error and may simply reflect a more granular look at access.

They have 242 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $2.2 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county.

Beltrami County will benefit from a border to border grant through Wikstrom Telephone

• Wikstrom Telephone Co. Inc, $665,699.00 (will also benefit Kittson, Lake of the Woods and Marshall)

Beltrami is the home county to Paul Bunyan Telephone, a cooperative that is focused on Gigabit service to their customers/stakeholders. They are lucky, having an engaged provider is the easiest way a community can improve broadband access.

Beltrami has a green ranking because they are so close to ubiquitous broadband and have engaged providers. The charts below indicate that Beltrami ranks much higher for access than digital equity. Future efforts might pivot to digital use as well as access.

Digital Equity:

Beltrami County ranks 40 out of 87 for digital equity. (See full Digital Equity Profile)

Beltrami County ranks 42 out of 87 for computer ownership. 91 percent of homes have a computer of device as compared to statewide ownership of 95.5 percent.