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Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Kandiyohi County And CTC Co-op Team Up For Connected Future
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In an effort to improve local connectivity, Kandiyohi County will collaborate with a local cooperative, Consolidated Telecommunications Company of Brainerd (CTC Co-op). Kadiyohi County is in step with the increasing number of rural communities joining forces with cooperatives when big corporate providers find no reason to invest in less populated areas.
Keeping It Local
In early July, the County Board of Commissioners signed a letter of intent with CTC Co-op in order to start planning for a potential project. The move improves the county’s chances to obtain one of the Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Program grants and motivates CTC Co-op to begin allocating some of its own funds toward a potential Kandiyohi project.
Kandiyohi County is home to approximately 42,000 people in central Minnesota and covers approximately 862 square miles of prairie. The region, filled with lakes, is a popular fishing destination. Like many places well known for outdoor recreation, residents and businesses can’t obtain the Internet access they need to keep pace with more populated areas.
Minnesota's Lac qui Parle County worked with the Farmers Mutual Telephone Cooperative when incumbent Frontier chose not to pursue a partnership. The county received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) but did not have the expertise or resources to maintain or manage a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network. Farmers Mutual, who already had experience after deploying their own network, stepped in and by 2014 residents and businesses had access to fast, affordable, reliable connectivity. Read more about the project in our report, All Hands on Deck: Minnesota Local Government Models for Fiber Internet Access.
Determining Need
The county hired a firm to perform a feasibility study, which includes a telephone survey. In April, county officials announced that the firm had started calling residents and businesses and would continue to do so throughout the summer. Now that Kandiyohi County and CTC Co-op have committed to working together, CTC Co-op will be able to use the study results to determine how to improve local connectivity.
Experienced Rural Cooperative
CTC Co-op has already developed high-quality Internet access for many of its members. The co-op received a state Border-to-Border Boradband grant to develop fiber connectivity for the South Brainerd and Fort Ripley areas. The cooperative, started in 1950, serves members in Sullivan Lake, Randall, Pillager, Outing, Nokay Lake, Nisswa, Motley, Mission, Lincoln, Leader, Freedhem, Little Falls, Brainerd, Baxter, and Crosby. They offer Internet access, video, and voice as well as additional services to local businesses.
The letter of intent does not detail any specific plans other than to establish a commitment for the county to work with CTC Co-op. Joe Buttweiler, who works as a Partnership Development Manager for CTC Co-op told the County Commission, "As we work together, we can decide. ... We can create whatever we want.”
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