Blandin Conference

1. Surveys, Data
and Stories to
Inform Policy and
Investment
Ann Treacy
Ben Winchester

2. Blandin Accelerate!
• Community broadband coaching
• 4 month commitment
• Weekly meetings
• Step by step broadband planning
process
• Applications open until Oct 22!
• Inaugural cohort
• Aitkin County
• Kanabec County
Pine County
• Mille Lacs Tribal Economy
ATT

3. Blandin Accelerate!
2,621 household surveys returned,
covering over 8,000 residents.
This survey is to document
experiences and not meant to be
inferential.

4. Joy of Access
Everything changed in
October of 2019 when
fiber came to our area.
Now I can do meetings
over Zoom with family.
Also great when family
comes to visit they can
stay connected and even
work from here.
ATT

5. Agony of No Access
We only pull about 2.5 Mbps
on a good day! We can only
have one device streaming
at a time or everything else
buffers or just won't connect
at all. Online school for high
school child extremely
difficult!
ATT

6. Rural Expectations
Moved to this house 3 years
ago. Previous house didn't
have any internet access
even though it was off
major highway, was
pleasantly surprised to be
able to get internet access
at this location which is
more rural. It was expensive
to install and took many
months, but I am happy
with it currently.
ATT

7. Blandin Accelerate!
• Commitment to Home
• Invest in Leadership
• Expand Opportunity

8. Blandin Accelerate!
Respondents indicating they have 1) only cellular
internet or 2) do not have internet.
Count Percent
Aitkin County 211 30%
Kanabec County 199 22%
Pine County 158 26%
Mille Lacs Tribal Economy 92 24%
All respondents 661 25%

9. Blandin Accelerate!
Please tell us why you do not have fixed Internet
access as your home.
No services are
offered at my
location
The price is
too high
Aitkin County 92 / 44% 27 / 13%
Kanabec County 86 / 43% 36 / 18%
Pine County 68 / 44% 24 / 15%
Mille Lacs Tribal Economy 31 / 45% 24 / 35%
All respondents 268 / 41% 115 / 17%

10. Why no fixed
Internet:
31 – Bad experience
28 – Too slow
17 – Too expensive
15 – Satellite
14 – Not available
9 – Cabin
3- Waiting for it
Why no fixed Internet?
• Aitkin is cabin residence. Summer only.
• Crappy service
• Speeds were not much higher than dial-
up, yet we had to pay just as much as
those with hi-speed access
• Pricing too high and only satellite
internet. Need more secure than satellite
internet
• Price is too high and internet options are
slow and unreliable
• End of the line, speed is too slow
• Have been waiting for line to be dug since
October 2020
ATT

11. Blandin Accelerate!
If you had internet access at this location, would
you use it for:
Count
Education (K12 - higher education) 235
Earn income (work or business) 322
Communication (email, video calls, social media) 485
Entertainment (video or music streaming, gaming) 456
Access government information 211
Cloud-based services (Dropbox, iCloud, etc.) 208
Other 32

12. Why no fixed
Internet:
31 – Bad experience
28 – Too slow
17 – Too expensive
15 – Satellite
14 – Not available
9 – Cabin
3- Waiting for it
What would you do
with better
broadband?
• Contact with my new
granddaughter
• Continuing Education
• Need for watching farming
animals during work hours
• Security
• Thermostat
• Work from home when needed
• Continuing Education
ATT

13. Blandin Accelerate!
Providers identified in region:
Provider Count
CenturyLink 774
Frontier 204
Satellite (HughesNet, Viasat) 152
Midco 126
SCI 91
Cellular/mobile phone data plan 51
Genesis Wireless 40
Charter Spectrum 39
Mille Lacs Energy 33
Other 29
Satellite (Starlink) 20
CTC 8
Mediacom 7
Starwire Technologies 5
Access Communications 4
Johnson Telephone 1
Windstream 1
AirFiber 0
Emily Cooperative Telephone 0

14. Blandin Accelerate!
Overall – considering performance, cost, and any
other factors – how satisfied are you with this
Internet service?
Affordability Speed Reliability
Extremely dissatisfied 19% 19% 19%
Somewhat dissatisfied 27% 27% 27%
Neither satisfied nor
dissatisfied
19% 19% 19%
Somewhat satisfied 25% 26% 25%
Extremely satisfied 10% 10% 10%

15. Blandin Accelerate!
Satisfaction by Community
Affordability
% Satisfied
Speed
% Satisfied
Reliability
% Satisfied
Aitkin County 43% 28% 35%
Kanabec County 44% 30% 35%
Pine County 40% 32% 39%
Mille Lacs Tribal Economy 44% 33% 41%
Mille Lacs Band Members 35% 35% 37%

16. Affordability
Have ViaSat for yrs. When I had to work at
home, it wouldn't even work enough for
me to do my job, took 3-7 minutes for a
screen to move. I had purchased the
highest possible package for $150 a month.
But I used up my allotted package, which
was supposed to be unlimited for this price,
before the 15th and then it was even
slower. Tried Gotw3 through Radio Shack
for over $200 for equipment and then $100
per month for service. Still keep the ViaSat
as backup because you never know when
one or both won't work and you need them
for your job. Speed is horrible.
ATT

17. Blandin Accelerate!
We’re just fine with cellular or satellite, right?
• Latency
• Upload
• VPN problem

18. Other Stories
• VPN/Latency on
satellite
• Upstream
Other Stories: VPN
• We have a worker that has to work from home so
went with Starlink beta. It works great but not
with a VPN. Everyone around us can get it but us
and our direct neighbors.
• Only had satellite available for the longest time
and that I didn't like at all. CenturyLink offer
internet service about 2 years ago. But the main
box that services our home is 2 miles away and our
speed is not the greatest. I'm able to use my VPN
for work and stream TV but we do get slow times
everyday. Would like to have more reliable speed
service so I could get rid of our satellite TV.
• Living in rural MN on a sizable farm I feel lucky to
be able to get land-based internet at all. I can't use
most satellite internet due to the lag (latency).
ATT

19. Other Stories
• VPN/Latency on
satellite
• Upstream
Other Stories:
Upstream
1. Download speed is acceptable, upload is nearly
no existent .58mbs on a normal day. I often use
my ATT phone to connect but then I have to go
outside. Century Link will only allow .75 upload
and they stated, "that is all you really need."
They are not very helpful and I will switch to
Midco as soon as the connection is available.
• Our internet goes in and out constantly. I have
talked to co-workers who have the same issue
and Century Link blames mice. Our speed is
nowhere near what we were told it would be
and the upload speeds are so bad it takes 5
minutes to upload 1 worksheet to the teacher.
ATT

20. Why no fixed
Internet:
31 – Bad experience
28 – Too slow
17 – Too expensive
15 – Satellite
14 – Not available
9 – Cabin
3- Waiting for it
Use the Stories!
• Community leaders and
policymakers deserve to hear
from their constituents
• Providers and other community
planners might look at what is
working and what isn’t in the
community.
• Residents and business owners,
before you move, consider the
comments made about the
providers and/or type of access
available in your desired location.
ATT

21. Blandin Accelerate!
Final Thoughts
• These are residential surveys, not commercial!

22. Thank you!
Any questions?