Kittson County

Table of goal data by year

Year	25/3 Mbps	100/20 Mbps
2019	#67 of 87 74.99%	#44 of 87 74.99%
2018	#64 of 87 71.38%	#30 of 87 71.38%
2017	#63 of 87 65.62%	#82 of 87 3.46%

County Profile Coverage Map

Rank: 43 (out of 87) for broadband speed 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps)

Kittson County made great strides in improving broadband access after 2017. It seems likely that state broadband grants to Wikstrom Telephone Company helped with the improvement. To meet the state broadband goals for 2022 and 2026, Kittson will need to encourage another big push in that direction.

Kittson is a county of broadband haves and have-nots. Those who have access have good access and the rest are unserved. The good news is that there is at least one provider in the area interested in providing fast internet; they need to encourage expansion or get others to match those speeds.

Kittson has benefited from three state broadband grants:

• 2017 – Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband – GRANT $1,307,785
  Serving 300 unserved homes and 31 unserved business locations in Kittson, Marshall, and Roseau Counties with services levels to 1 Gbps down and up..
• 2016 – WIKSTROM TELEPHONE COMPANY WIKTEL NW MN – GRANT: $950,823
  Serving 236 unserved households and 26 unserved business in rural sparsely populated areas in Kittson, Marshall, Roseau, and Lake of the Woods counties in NW Minnesota with services levels to 1 Gigabit.
• 2014 – Wikstrom Telephone, Kittson, Marshall, Roseau Broadband Extension
  Award: $425,000. Total project cost: $943,827. Impact: Service to 73 unserved and 43 underserved homes in Kittson, Marshall and Roseau counties

And they are getting almost $2 million in FCC funding but that is over the next 10 years.

Kittson County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, Wikstrom Telephone Company applied to upgrade service in Kittson. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Find more articles on broadband in Kittson.