Morrison County
| Year | Rank | 100/20 Mbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | #49 of 87 | 84.91% |
| 2023 | #48 of 87 | 82.53% |
| 2022 | #51 of 87 | 77.57% |
| 2021 | #56 of 87 | 73.96% |
| 2020 | #56 of 87 | 70.03% |
| 2019 | #53 of 87 | 69.94% |
| 2018 | #59 of 87 | 42.74% |
| 2017 | #66 of 87 | 28.83% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Wired (wireline) and wireless (fixed, non-mobile) served location percentage at various speeds.
Morrison County: Steady Progress but Recent Grant Might Help
Morrison County ranks 49 (down one place) for broadband access out of 87 counties.
Morrison County has seen steady but incremental improvement since we started tracking. They been actively engaged in seeking better broadband for several years, including as part of the Resilient Region as a Blandin Broadband Community and in 2022, Officials from Morrison County and the city of Little Falls met to talk about broadband options.
They have $5 million in MN State Grants from 2024 awards that should help them continue, or even better, accelerate their movement closer to goal but until that begins to happen, they retain their yellow rank.
- Over the years, Morrison County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
- Morrison County will benefit from two 2024 MN Broadband grants:
$1.3 million to serve 241 locations and
$3.7 million. - Morrison County will benefit from 11 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
- Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $24.1 million 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, Morrison ranked 80 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
Household Density
12.9
Number of Providers
17
As of 2023 · Source: MN DEED
Households with Device Access
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
Has Worked with Blandin Foundation
Yes
Has Received MN Grant(s)
Yes
2014 – Consolidated Telephone Cooperative, Region 5 Virtual Highway Project – Amount $2 million
2016 – BENTON COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE COMPANY BUCKMAN – GRANT: $276,230
2017 – Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Rice Ramey – GRANT $765,015
2019 – CTC (Consolidated Telephone Company) – Fort Ripley/Executive Acres Project – GRANT $830,587
2019 – Benton Cooperative Telephone Company – Ramey Phase I – GRANT $936,759
MN State Grants awarded in 2021: 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.
Sytek Communications – Morrison/Todd/Stearns County FTTP Project – GRANT $1,048,668 This last mile project will bring service to 130 locations in Southwest Morrison, Southeastern Todd and Northeastern Stearns counties.
2022 – Morrison County will benefit from a ReConnect grant through Upsala Cooperative.
2024:
- County: Morrison
Benton Cooperative Telephone Company Buckman Township
Grant: $1,248,430
Local Match: $2,318,518
Total Budget: $3,566,948
The Benton Cooperative Telephone Company project will provide high-speed Broadband services to Buckman Township in Morrison County. Benton Cooperative Telephone Company currently provides high-speed Broadband to 5,850 customers of which 5,414 are served by fiber allowing them to have speeds of a minimum of 100/100 and a maximum of 1Gig/1Gig. This project will serve a total of 241 locations, including 190 unserved and 51 underserved locations. - County: Morrison
Upsala Coop Tel Assoc dba Sytek
Sytek Swanville North Moose Lake
Grant: $3,689,967
Local Match: $1,229,989
Total Budget: $4,919,956
Government Districts
U.S. Congress: CD 7
MN Senate: 05, 10
MN House: 05B, 10A, 10B