Montana
Broadband access is expanding in Montana, but rural areas still lag behind
In the southeastern Montana town of Belfry, 65-year-old resident Mary Boyer reflects on her relationship with technology.
“I’m a green-ledger girl,” Boyer said. “I can handwrite. I don’t like calculators. I never owned a television, I have a crank Victrola for music.”
Boyer’s home is about an hour south of Billings. The Beartooth and Pryor Mountains flank Belfry, as the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River meanders through it.
She said technology has always been slow to come to their town.
“We had a heck of a time getting songs – because we have to do it over the internet – for the karaoke machine,” she said. “And all of a sudden halfway through a song there’s no words or there’s no karaoke whatsoever.”
Boyer knows connectivity goes beyond a karaoke machine.
Before this year, she said their internet service couldn’t meet the community’s needs. Her neighbors rely on it for telehealth appointments, education and commerce.
“I think it’s all about the community and keeping them in touch with the outside world,” she said.
Montana ranks among the lowest in the country when it comes to internet access. And rural places disproportionately lack access to high speed connectivity compared to urban.
Montana ranks among the lowest in the country when it comes to internet access. Broadband Now, an independent research organization, ranked Montana second to last in the nation for internet speeds and affordability. And rural places disproportionately lack access to high speed connectivity compared to urban; this is known as the digital divide.
State officials and telecommunications companies have been trying to change that. Over the last few years, just shy of a billion dollars in federal funding aimed at tackling this issue came into the state. The goal is to use it to close the digital divide for good.
In the southern end of Belfry, Jay Velez stands in front of his restaurant, the Silvertip, admiring the scenery.
“What a view, man!” he said, looking toward the Beartooth Mountains. “It doesn’t suck here.”
His restaurant serves as a local watering hole. It offers the karaoke night coveted by Boyer. And this summer, the Silvertip’s internet got better.
“We just rely on it for our point of sale systems, and so far, it’s been working great,” he said.
His improved internet is due to newly installed fixed fiber optic lines. These are thick cables laid in the ground. They’re considered the “gold standard” for broadband connectivity.
But this technology is expensive to install, and it’s been slow to reach towns like Belfry.
“We’re way behind, in looking at the grander sphere of the problem,” said Misty Ann Giles, the head of the state’s broadband office ConnectMT. “We are farther behind our sister states. Montana does have a lot of challenges when it comes to thinking about internet access.”
Government-led efforts to close the digital divide have been underway for decades. The federal government established the Universal Service Fund in 1996, prescribing that “all Americans” should have access to basic connectivity. The fund subsidizes fiber installation and maintenance in remote areas.
But it wasn’t enough. So, another project emerged in 2018. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program offers federal funds and loans to expand internet access.
Giles helped stand-up the program as former Chief of Staff at the agency’s Rural Development office.
“A lot of the work we did when we were at USDA when we first came into office was trying to look at the bigger Rubik’s Cube of, why are rural communities lacking some core services when it comes to education, telehealth, things like that in their communities,” Giles said. “And what it all came down to was connectivity.”
This connectivity became even more imperative during the pandemic. Business, community, health care and education all required a stable internet.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, broadband expansion timelines considered reasonable pre-COVID-19 became “unworkable,” and the Commission pushed to get rural communities connected faster. So the federal government launched several new programs.
Since 2019, around $900 million from four federal programs for rural broadband expansion has flowed into the state.
Since 2019, around $900 million from four federal programs for rural broadband expansion has flowed into the state.
The main sources include funds from the ReConnect Program, which go to telecom companies through grants and loans. Those total around $144 million for Montana-focused projects. Then there’s the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $310 million; The Broadband Equity Access and Development program, which allotted around $308 million; Lastly, there’s the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which provided Montana $126 million for a 10-year period during its Phase I auction.
And it’s through these programs that Belfry’s internet just got a little better.
Back in southeastern Montana, Nemont Communications Chief Operating Officer Scott Paul drives through the 250-resident town on a sunny October afternoon.
“You probably didn’t see it, but look for an orange capped plastic pole,” he said, pointing out markers of their recent efforts. “Beneath that orange-capped plastic pole, there is gonna be a handhole. And then between those plastic poles, there’s fiber that’s buried underground.”
Nemont just replaced Belfry’s copper wire laid around the 1970s. Paul said copper was great for dial-up internet, but fails at providing the internet speeds we expect today. But installing fiber in Montana is expensive. It can cost up to $300,000 to reach a single home or business, according to Giles.
“If you’re trying to put all of this fiber into an area that’s all rock, then it becomes a lot more expensive because rock’s a lot harder to get through than the dirt,” he said.
For Belfry’s project, Nemont received $10 million ReConnect dollars to build fiber for around 1,000 households in 500 square miles. That’s an area the size of Los Angeles. Paul said they installed 80 miles of fiber just to reach Belfry.
Most companies rely on their customer base to cover the costs of installing internet infrastructure. But in low population states like Montana, that model does not always work. Paul said that’s why these funds are so important.
“It’s allowing us to escalate the speed of doing that,” he said. “We’re doing a little bit more now than we have done in the past, for that reason.”
Dozens of companies like Nemont have leveraged these federal programs to try and reach more residents. Sometimes the costs still exceed what they can afford, and they default.
According to the FCC, Montana’s broadband coverage increased 10 percent between 2023 and 2024. But there’s more work to be done. 70,000 homes and businesses across Montana still need better internet.
Some progress has been made. According to the FCC, Montana’s broadband coverage increased 10 percent between 2023 and 2024. But there’s more work to be done. 70,000 homes and businesses across Montana still need better internet.
And rural residents like Mary Boyer know how necessary it is to be connected.
“If we didn’t have the access to the good communications, we could be in a world of horse pucky,” she said.
State officials hope to bridge the digital divide by the end of the decade.
HELENA — What a wet, weekend storm. Several towns in Montana, including Helena, Great Falls and Bozeman, had a record amount of precipitation. Most of Montana saw between 1 and 2 and a half inches of rain, with some spots getting more than 3 inches of rain, and the storm is not quite over with yet, so precipitation totals could still increase.
Steady to heavy rain fell across the state seemingly all weekend long, creating areas of minor flooding, making for tough travel conditions on the roads, and really limiting outdoor activities. If you, your kids, and or your pets went a little stir crazy, it might be nice to know that a storm like that does not come around too often.
In fact, with storm totals of 1-3″ of rain over the course of 2-3 days, the frequency of a storm like that is between about 2 to every 5 years. storms are described by their recurrence interval or return period, which is the average time between events of that size. For those who make wagers out there, a storm like this has about a 20% chance of happening any given year. This does not mean a storm like this will happen every 5 years. It’s possible it could happen every 2 years, or 10 years apart, or twice in a row, even.
Over 20 years, you could expect a storm like that about 4 times, but the actual number could vary. A one-in-5-year storm is relatively common but still a significant weather event that probably won’t happen again for a little while.
WASHINGTON — Montana voters will select nominees in Tuesday’s state primary to replace departing Republican incumbents in the U.S. Senate and House, but one major contender won’t be on the ballot. Meanwhile, several state legislative primaries will highlight divisions within Montana’s dominant Republican Party.
Republicans hold slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. Montana has not been at the top of the list of seats Democrats hope to flip to regain control of either body, but the retirements do creak open the door for a candidate to possibly take advantage of the state’s independent streak.
Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is not seeking a third term. He has endorsed former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme to replace him. Daines’ late withdrawal from the race in March and the launch of Alme’s candidacy, both timed to occur just before the filing deadline, appeared to be carefully choreographed. President Donald Trump seemed to confirm as much in his endorsement of Alme.
“In fact, if Kurt didn’t have the highest level of aptitude and talent, Steve would have remained exactly where he is….” Trump said in a social media post.
Alme also has endorsements from the state’s other top Republicans, U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy and Gov. Greg Gianforte. He faces Republicans Lee Calhoun and Charles Walking Child for the nomination.
The Democratic field includes former state Rep. Reilly Neill, whose fundraising is five times the combined haul of her four primary rivals.
The winners of both primaries will face former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar, who is running as an independent. As of mid-May, Bodnar had outraised the entire field of candidates, regardless of party. Bodnar is one of a handful of independent candidates who have opted to bypass the party primary process and could complicate the general election for some Republican incumbents.
In the 1st Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke is not seeking a fourth full term, citing health concerns. He, Trump, Sheehy and Gianforte have endorsed talk radio host and former Zinke congressional staffer Aaron Flint over Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, former state Sen. Al Olszewski and former high school government teacher Ray Curtis. The Democratic field includes former gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse and union organizer Sam Forstag.
In the state Legislature, several primaries expose an ongoing rift within the ranks of Montana Republicans.
At the start of the 2025 legislative session, nine Republican state senators bucked the party on a variety of key floor measures, essentially handing control of the chamber to Democrats.
State Sen. Shelley Vance of District 34 is the only one of the maverick lawmakers, dubbed the “Nasty Nine” by the Montana GOP, up for reelection in 2026. Two others, state Sens. Jason Ellsworth and Bruce Gillespie, opted instead to run for the state House in Districts 34 and 18, respectively. The other six are either term-limited, retiring or not up this cycle.
In response to the revolt within the Republican caucus, the Montana Republican Party released a list of state legislative candidates it supports, including some who are challenging Republican incumbents in the state House. But some of the state party’s picks put the committee at odds with Gianforte, who has released a series of social media videos appearing with four state House incumbents targeted by the party.
The governor offered words of support for state House Speaker Brandon Ler and state Reps. Valerie Moore and Ken Walsh, who are all running for reelection, and for state Rep. Eric Albus, who is running in state Senate District 14. Gianforte does not explicitly endorse the lawmakers in the videos, but he called one a “great partner” and said he was “proud of the work” he’d done with another.
Half of the state’s 50 state Senate seats and all 100 state House seats are up for election in 2026.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:
When do polls close?
Polls close at 8 p.m. MT, which is 10 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Public Service Commission, state Senate and state House.
Who gets to vote?
Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary.
How many voters are there?
As of May 25, there were about 791,000 registered voters in Montana. Voters do not register by party.
How many people actually vote?
About 190,000 Republican primary votes and about 108,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2024 U.S. Senate primaries.
How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?
About 68% of the 2024 primary vote was cast before primary day.
As of Friday, about 166,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.
When are early and absentee votes released?
Counties vary in how they release votes. In previous elections, results from absentee voting mostly were released along with in-person Election Day voting throughout the night. About two-thirds of Montana’s 56 counties tend to release all or almost all of their mail and in-person early voting results in the first vote update of the night, often along with results from in-person Election Day voting. About half the counties tend to release all or almost all their in-person Election Day results in the first vote report.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 U.S. Senate primary, the AP first reported results at 10:26 p.m. ET, or 26 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 4:06 a.m. ET with about 84% of total votes counted.
When will the AP declare a winner?
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
How do recounts work?
Montana requires an automatic recount only in the event of a tie vote. A candidate may request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of the total vote, but the state will only pay for it if the margin is 0.25% or less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 154 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 31, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 31 drawing
06-19-26-31, Bonus: 03
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 31 drawing
03-11-26-45-56, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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