Rank: 236
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Freeborn County: Slow progress

Freeborn County ranks 36 (down 8 places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have seen only very slight improvements over the years. Because of their 2024 MN broadband grant, they retain their yellow ranking with minimal increase in broadband.

• Over the years, Freeborn County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Freeborn County will benefit from a 2024 $1,779,163 MN Broadband grant award that will serve 543 locations.
• Freeborn County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $12.6 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, Freeborn ranked 52 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

• They also had the unfortunate distinction from Recon Analytics to be named the unhappiest broadband county in the US.

2024 Grant:

• County: Faribault, Freeborn
  Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company Faribault County Fiber Expansion Project – Final Phase
  Grant: $1,779,163
  Local Match: $5,337,488
  Total Budget: $7,116,651
  The Faribault County Fiber Expansion Project – Final Phase project will build an underground fiber network to serve the remaining unserved and underserved locations in Faribault county’s rural Wells and Blue Earth, offering speeds of up to a Gigabit symmetrically with unlimited data. This final phase, last mile project will impact a total of 543 addresses, of which 423 are unserved and 120 are underserved, and includes 205 homes, 59 businesses, and 279 farms. Faribault County EDA has pledged $5,000 toward this project.

Past Grants:

• 2022: ReConnect program, will help connect over 6,000 people, 150 businesses, and 680 farms across Freeborn, Morrison, Stearns, Houston, and Todd counties.

• 2017 – BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telephone) – Freeborn Southwest Rural Final – GRANT $122,460
• 2016 – CANNON VALLEY TELECOM, INC. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL FREEBORN – GRANT:  $150,700
• 2015 – BEVCOMM Cannon Valley Telecom – Rural Freeborn Fiber-to-the-Premises Project – Grant award: $149,625
• Freeborn is also getting almost $2 million in FCC funding but that is over the next 10 years.
• Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association – SE Faribault/W Freeborn County FTTP – GRANT $953,842 This last-mile fiber optic project will bring service to 319 unserved locations, including 289 homes, 16 businesses, 11 farms, and three community anchor institutions in the townships of Clark, Foster, Kiester, Seely, Alden, Carlston, Manchester, Mansfield, and Pickerel Lake located in Southeastern Faribault and Western Freeborn counties.

Find more articles on broadband in Freeborn County. (http://tinyurl.com/hw7ptnz)

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)