Rank: 36
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Freeborn	89.76	47	88.72	43	88.55	15	15

Freeborn County: Slow progress

Freeborn County has been stagnant for several years. Access has declined in the last year, although within an acceptable margin.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 0 locations in Freeborn County.

There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of  houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Freeborn has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems like a new route to consider.)

Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.

After a few years of stagnation and no prospects with BEAD funding, Freeborn has slipped to Red status.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	88.72	89.55	89.1	86.36	85.89	84.51	83.88	34.18	94.59
25/3 (2022 goal)	89.76	90.52	89.96	86.98	88	87.94	87.92	84.31	99.44

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 Freeborn: 0

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.

Freeborn has not invested over the years.

No New Posts from 2025:

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 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 had the unfortunate distinction from Recon Analytics to be named the unhappiest broadband county in the US.

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
• 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 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)