Map shows co-ops lead charge on rural broadband

Minnesota's new broadband task force filed its first official report.

Some areas of the state already meet the state's 2015 goal for adequate high-speed Internet access for all households. No surprise that the Twin Cities, with its population density and multiple providers, meets the goal. But it's intriguing to see the two large outstate areas in the upper Minnesota River valley and up north. A big reason is the optic fiber work done in recent years by small rural cooperatives like Farmers Mutual in Madison, Federated Telephone in Morris and Paul Bunyan in Bemidji. Folks in those co-ops will tell you in makes a different when the goal is customer-owner service instead of shareholder profit.