Carlton County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2021	#79 of 87	52.08%
2020	#77 of 87	52.02%
2019	#73 of 87	47.57%
2018	#44 of 87	58.22%
2017	#40 of 87	52.32%

Coverage Map

Rank: 79 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps)

Carlton County is one of several counties that is served primary with one national provider, who may not be as invested locally as a local provider or cooperative. They recognize the need for improvement; they need to find a way to make it happen.

Their access to broadband hasn’t changed substantially since we have been tracking. County Commissioners have recognized the importance of better broadband. Local media has also written about the need for better broadband, especially since the pandemic. Projected allocation of American Recovery Project ARP funds in Carlton is $6,956,960; broadband is one possible use.

Unfortunately, local recognition of need is not enough to make a difference when a community is served by a provider that is not engaged. Perhaps, the advent of federal funding (ARP and Capital Project Funds) might spur interest in providers that haven’t been interested or spur a community to look at solutions outside of their community. But that is a hard lift and therefore they maintain their red code.

They may benefit from intervention, such as the Blandin Accelerate program, a process to spur community acquisition and deployment of federal and state broadband funds, to find an alternative solution.

Find more articles on broadband in Carlton County. (http://tinyurl.com/z4me5k4)