North Shore residents share insights to internet access and technology

Wilderness Health has completed a series of listening sessions around internet access in rural northeastern Minnesota. Between May 19 and June 21, 2023, residents of Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Grand Marais, and Grand Portage shared their challenges and opportunities in using the Internet in rural Minnesota. The listening sessions were sponsored by Wilderness Health in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Office of Broadband Development .

Internet Challenges and Opportunities in Lake County

Two Harbors residents met at the Two Harbors Public Library Sale in Lake View Hospital (Lake View is a Wilderness member hospital) on May 19th and at the Two Harbors Library on June 1st. Silver Bay residents met at North Shore Area Partners and at the Silver Bay library for listening sessions around internet access and technology along the North Shore on June 8, 2023.

Residents noted that they needed the internet to listen to music. The geography of the area means that Minnesota radio stations don’t often get through to every home. Sometimes, Wisconsin Public Radio can be heard, its signals coming across the water.

One of the most powerful themes was about resilience – the kinds of extra planning and preparation that goes into everyday life in rural communities. Nearly everyone surveyed in Silver Bay still kept a landline. Storms in winter and summer mean that it was easy to lose internet service, cell service, or electricity – and if you lost any one of those, you might not get reconnected for days. A landline is a way of communicating with the world even if the power goes out.

That connection was important – a resident shared being able to watch their grandchildren play soccer in another state, live, over the internet, while another played chess over the internet.

Chance Lasher facilitated several of the sessions for Wilderness Health and noted an important theme: “People were frustrated with the inconsistency of the internet offerings in their region, whether it be speed, the lack of choice between internet service providers, cost, or any access at all. The idea of the internet becoming a public utility, like water, electricity, and gas, seemed very popular.

Internet Challenges and Opportunities in Cook County

On June 9, 2023, residents of Grand Marais met at the Hub and at the YMCA for listening sessions around internet access and technology along the North Shore. Residents of Grand Portage met with Wilderness staff and volunteers and with Hilja Iverson of North Shore Health in Grand Marais on June 18th, 2023.

In Grand Marais, one of the most powerful themes was about security – the risks that come from sharing your information online. Residents noted that a barrier to accessing services like telehealth was the fear that their information could be stolen, and that they could become victims of fraud. In Grand Portage, security was doubly an issue, as the community’s internet and phone services are connected – when one fails, the other fails with it.

Another theme was independence – several voices in Grand Marais spoke about being off the grid, intentionally, and the ways that that complicates internet access. Even if satellite internet works at its best, electricity for your laptop comes at a premium when it’s solar powered. Others reported that, without internet access at home, they drive into town, find some public wifi, and work through a list of things to Google, quickly, before they drive home.

The community of Grand Portage spoke about their desire for energy independence through sustainable energy technologies.

Participants in both communities noted that the internet was useful, though – for learning home maintenance, even for meeting with doctors when travel is difficult.

Wilderness is using the results to inform their telehealth strategies. According to Zomi Bloom, telehealth program manager, “Access to the internet can help people connect to information, communicate with their doctors, and enhance social ties. It’s even more important where people are spread out or facing extreme weather barriers for months out of the year – like in rural northeastern Minnesota. We want to understand barriers our communities experience so that we can advocate and design programs.” Wilderness will report the results of these and other listening sessions to the Department of Employment and Economic Development.