Rank: 72
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Fillmore County: ReConnect award and a story could put them back on track

Fillmore County ranks 66 (down 6 places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Fillmore had a nice increase of broadband in 2022 from 56 percent in 2021 to 65 percent coverage but have stayed pretty stagnant since then. But they received a number of MN Broadband grants last year and in 2024, which should mean more connectivity in the future. That is why they retain their yellow ranking.

• Over the years, Fillmore County (or cities within) has invested $168,000 (total) for matches for 3 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Fillmore County will benefit from three 2024 MN Broadband grant awards:
  $2,567,200 to serve 275 locations,
  $3,164,721 to serve 396 locations in Fillmore, Olmsted and Winona Counties and
  $33,863 to serve 36 locations.
• Fillmore County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $22.1 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, Fillmore ranked 59 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• They benefited in 2022 with expansion from Mediacom (in Wykoff) and Harmony (in Harmony).
• In December 2022, Harmony Telephone Company received a Border to Border grant of $1,129,740 to serve 34 unserved households, 22 unserved businesses, and 56 unserved farms in the rural portions of Fillmore County.
• In 2023, Harmony Telephone Company received a grant of $2,991,038 to serve 311 households, businesses, and farms in Fillmore County and a grant of $1,044,436 to 68 households, businesses, and farms in the rural portions of Fillmore County.

2024 Grants:

• County: Fillmore
  Ace Telephone Association Rural Canton
  Grant: $2,567,200
  Local Match: $3,850,800
  Total Budget: $6,418,000
  The Ace Telephone Association project will work to bring broadband services to southeastern Minnesota’s Filmore County, and rural areas around the community of Canton through Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology with data rates of up to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) to each subscriber on the network. This project will bring service to 275 locations, 199 unserved and 76 served, consisting of 212 households, 24 businesses, and 39 farms.
• County: Fillmore, Olmsted, Winona
  MiEnergy Cooperative South West Fremont
  Grant: $3,164,721
  Local Match: $4,747,086
  Total Budget: $7,911,807
  The MiEnergy Cooperative project will see built Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) in the rural areas Southwest of Fremont, Minnesota located primarily in Winona and Filmore Counties. This project will provide services to 396 addresses, including 342 unserved and 54 underserved, and bridge the digital divide by offering residents access to essential services such as telemedicine, online education, and remote work opportunities. Funding partner Mabel Cooperative Telephone Company is contributing $2,373,543.
• County: Fillmore
  Mediacom LLC
  Mediacom – Oakhill/Spring Valley
  Grant: $33,863
  Local Match: $79,015
  Total Budget: $112,878
  This broadband grant project is focused on the area of Oak Hill Drive in Spring Valley, MN located in Fillmore County. This project will provide Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband service with speeds up to 2,000 Mbps download and 1,000 Mbps upload to a total of 36 households. Since 2019, Mediacom has completed 18 Fiber to the Home broadband grant projects. These broadband grant projects built 257.81 miles of fiber and connected an estimated 4,543 locations.

Past Grants:

• 2023: Harmony Telephone Company – North Fountain Fiber-To-The-Premises GRANT – $2,991,038
• 2023: Harmony Telephone Company – Rural Preston Fiber-To-The-Premises GRANT – $1,044,436
• 2022: Harmony Telephone Company, $1,129,740.00

• 2017 – Rushford Village/Rural Rushford Fiber Build – Grant $2,011,628
• 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Fountain 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $202,125
• 2016 – ACENTEK RURAL LANESBORO FIBER BUILD – GRANT: $1,777,936
• (2020), Harmony Telephone received a USDA ReConnect award to better serve Fillmore County. They received a $2.7 million ReConnect Program loan and a $2.7 million ReConnect Program grant.
• AcenTek – Rural Peterson Exchange FTTH – GRANT $1,492,096 This last mile project will serve 214 unserved households, 18 unserved businesses, 88 unserved farms, and two unserved community anchor institutions as well as 47 underserved households and five underserved businesses in areas of Fillmore and Winona counties. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota and Fillmore County EDA, AcenTek will improve these 374 locations’ broadband levels up to 1 Gbps download and 100 Mbps upload.
• MiBroadband, LLC – Rural Preston FTTP – GRANT $1,173,330 The Rural Preston fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) project will serve 231 unserved and 26 underserved locations in the rural portions of southern Fillmore County.

Find more articles on broadband in Fillmore County. (http://tinyurl.com/hxe6jal)

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)