Fillmore County is not poised to meet either the 2022 or 2026 state speed goals. Their improvements over the years have been very incremental and not at pace with other counties.

Green=served Purple=underesrved Red=unserved

Fillmore has benefited from three MN broadband grants:

• 2017 – Rushford Village/Rural Rushford Fiber Build – Grant $2,011,628
  Serving 226 unserved households, 20 unserved businesses, and 289 underserved households, 20 underserved businesses, and 2 underserved community anchor institutions in the Rushford Village/Rural Rushford exchange in Fillmore County with access of a minimum of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) download and 100 megabits per second (Mbps) upload, exceeding the state speed goal set for the year 2026.
• 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Fountain 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $202,125
  Serving 161 unserved households and 20 unserved businesses, exceeding the 2022 state speed goal of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. The project will unlock opportunities for distance learning, telemedicine, and telecommuting and other increased business development.
• 2016 – ACENTEK RURAL LANESBORO FIBER BUILD – GRANT: $1,777,936
  Serving 431 unserved households, 42 unserved businesses, and 1 community anchor institution in the rural Lanesboro area, including Whalan, Carrolton Township, and Holt Township with access, exceeding the 2026 state speed goal.

In December, Mediacom announced completion of their project, because the maps and data were collected in December, it’s difficult to know whether those households were included in the most recent numbers.

Fillmore County could benefit from future grants. In 2019, MiBroadband applied to upgrade service in Fillmore. (That doesn’t mean they will get the grant; they have only applied.)

Checklist:

• 100/20 ranking: 70 (down from 58)
• 25/3 ranking: 85
• Has worked with Blandin: no
• Has received a MN Broadband grant: yes
• Household density: 9.9
• Number of providers: 7

Details:

• Find more articles on broadband in Fillmore County. (http://tinyurl.com/hxe6jal)
• Districts: CD 1
  Senate: 28
  House: 28B
• Find your reps

I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)