Rank: 63
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Blue Earth County: Middle of the pack and dropping

Blue Earth County dropped from 61 to 63 following a dip of 41 to 61 the year before for broadband out of 87 counties.

Blue Earth County had a broadband feasibility study done in 2019. They might do well to loop back to that study for ideas of what to do to prepare for future funding. They are getting a red ranking because they have moved backwards and there doesn’t seem to be a current push to move forward.

• Over the years, Blue Earth County (or cities within) has invested $39,249 (total) for matches for 1 successful MN Broadband grant. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Blue Earth County will benefit from a 2024 435,838 MN Broadband grant (Round 10) award that will serve 101 locations between Blue Earth and Faribault Counties.
• Blue Earth County will not benefit from line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $49.1 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Blue Earth ranked 18 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

2024 Grants:

• County: Blue Earth, Faribault
  Bevcomm (Easton) Telephone
  Bevcomm (Easton) Rural MN Lake
  Grant: $435,838
  Local Match: $1,016,956
  Total Budget: $1,452,794
  Bevcomm will build an underground fiber broadband network to 101 locations (86 unserved and 15 underserved), offering speeds up to a Gigabit symmetrically with unlimited data, to portions of rural Faribault and Blue Earth Counties. This project will impact 55 farms, 32 households, and 14 businesses. Faribault County EDA has pledged $5,000 and Minnesota Lake Township has pledged $1,000 toward project costs. Bevcomm has to date received 25 state grants, all of which have been successfully deployed and completed on time.

Past Grants:

• 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile Grant award: $808,080

Find more articles on broadband in Blue Earth County. (http://tinyurl.com/j5pe9kr)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2024. Red dots represent locations unserved locations. Above I have tracked wireline access because that is the Minnesota definition of broadband. The info below includes wired and wireless. BEAD includes fixed wireless connections as served locations. (I wrote more on the distinction between the two last year, which may be if interest in the numbers range greatly for your county.)

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)