Yellow Medicine County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2024	#84 of 87	58.77%
2023	#79 of 87	61.09%
2022	#78 of 87	58.17%
2021	#83 of 87	48.81%
2020	#32 of 87	82.51%
2019	#78 of 87	38.86%
2018	#69 of 87	37.72%
2017	#72 of 87	19.28%

Red dots represent unserved locations.

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

Yellow Medicine County: Improvement but Too Slow

Yellow Medicine County ranks 84 (down five places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Yellow Medicine has lost coverage percentage, likely due to map corrections but it leaves Yellow Medicine with stalled and inconsistent mapping and they are far away from the goal.

They may also be concerned about being in a potentially precarious position because looking at access in the County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access (56.69 percent coverage) and wireline with fixed wireless (99.5 percent). Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless. That could make a big difference to who is eligible for BEAD funding.

Unfortunately, Yellow Medicine has earned a red ranking at the bottom of the ranking list.

• Over the years, Yellow Medicine County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Yellow Medicine County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
• Yellow Medicine County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $15.7 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, Yellow Medicine ranked 58 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.