Rank: 27
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Faribault	96.67	28	95.77	27	95.77	9	13

Faribault County: Found traction to move forward

Faribault County has seen great increases in broadband coverage in the last two years.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 7 locations in Faribault County. They will all get satellite connections, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute. Also, it’s telling that so few providers bid on the area, that being said, there are providers who are coming into the area without the incentive.

There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of  houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Faribault hasn’t benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that might be a new route to funding.) Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which may lead to uncertainty, which may be helpful or hurtful to the area.

Faribault retains their Green status; they seem on they way to meeting state goals.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	95.77	91.83	70.43	72.68	43.95	40.56	39.2	42.28	49.13
25/3 (2022 goal)	96.67	93.46	89.01	97.63	92.42	82.1%	71.0%	64.0%	43.5%

Possible BEAD support

The Minnesota BEAD Final Proposal has not yet been approved so the information below is subject to change; it includes the number of locations by county specifying provider and broadband type. (Learn more.)

Locations in Faribault: 7
The locations include all satellite connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Faribault	6	1	7	Faribault

Local Government Match for State Broadband Grants:

Over the years, many local governments (County, Municipal, Tribal) have invested in broadband deployment. This year, I have tracked how much local investment has been used to match MN State Grants. Local governments invest in other ways too, but this was one number I could realistically find and quantify investment by county, which means investment in that county, whether by county, cities or other local government entity.

Faribault has invested $55,000 in six projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Mediacom brings multi-gig access in Wells and Winnebago MN (Faribault County)
• T-Mobile and KKR acquire US Internet and Metronet

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $17.4 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, Faribault ranked 57 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• 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
• Bevcomm (Easton) Telephone – Bevcomm (Easton) Rural MN Lake
  Grant: $435,838, Local Match: $1,016,956, Total Budget: $1,452,794
• In December 2022, Blue Earth Valley Telephone received a Border to Border grant for $1.4 million to serve 371 underserved and 2 unserved homes, businesses, and farms in the rural areas of Bricelyn, Elmore and Guckeen within Faribault and Martin Counties.

• 2022: Blue Earth Valley Telephone Co., dba Bevcomm and Cannon Valley Telecom, Inc.,dba Bevcomm, $1,444,030.00

• 2017 – BEVCOMM (Easton Telephone Company) – Delavan SE Rural Project – GRANT $220,350
• 2016 – BLUE EARTH VALLEY TELEPHONE CO. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL WINNEBAGO – GRANT:  $152,828
• 2015 – BEVCOMM Blue Earth Valley Telephone – Rural Winnebago Fiber-to-the-Premises Project – Grant award: $142,690
• BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company & Easton Telephone Company) – Rural Faribault County Project – GRANT: $579,781
• BEVCOMM received CARES Act funding from the County for broadband expansion.
• BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company, Easton Telephone Company & Cannon Valley Telecom) – Rural Faribault County and Martin County Fiber Expansion Phase 2 Project – GRANT $1,182,818 This last mile project will serve approximately two unserved households, 203 underserved households, 46 underserved businesses, and 181 underserved farms in portions of Faribault and Martin counties.
• 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 Faribault County. (http://tinyurl.com/jzwv3gx)

The maps below come from the 

• Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2025 – tracking wireline access.
• The FCC National Broadband Maps, reflecting data updated November 28, 2025 – tracking fixed wireless access.

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)