Rank: 83
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Jackson	73.84	83	72.89	80	72.89	26	16

Jackson County sees improvements

Jackson County saw a nice increase in broadband in 2025, which is a nice change from stagnation and even going backwards.

Looking last year we saw that Jackson County was in a precarious position when it comes to federal (BEAD) funding because looking at access in Chippewa County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access (60.86) percent coverage) and wireline with fixed wireless (97.86 percent). Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless. That could make a big difference to who is eligible for BEAD funding, which may explain why Jackson only had bids on 197 locations. (At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved.) Most of the locations will get fiber; the rest will fixed wireless connection, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute.

There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of  houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Jackson has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems hopeful for them as well.)

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

I wish I could color Jackson Orange, rather than keep them in red but with limited prospects proposed in BEAD, they retain their Red status.

Broadband Access:

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	72.89	60.86	62.34	61.98	68.84	68.84	68.84	68.79	68.9
25/3 (2022 goal)	73.84	62.7	63.88	63.8	69.86	70.05	70.42	68.83	68.9

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 Jackson: 197
The locations include a majority of satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	AMG Technology Investment Group, LLC d/b/a Nextlink Internet	Federated Rural Electric Association	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Fixed Wireless	Fiber
Jackson	22	175	197	Jackson

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.

In Jackson 0 was invested over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Jackson County providers received $200561.60 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards
• Becker County community leaders testify at the MN Legislature on the value of data centers in their community.
• More on Becker County experience recruiting data centers.

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $15.9 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, Jackson ranked 84^th using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants:

• 2023: Federated Rural Electric Assoc. – Jackson County Fiber-To-The-Premises – GRANT $7,068,222
• In 2010, Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) received ARRA funds to deploy fiber to the home in Jackson and other counties. Through SMBS, Jackson County was also part of the Blandin Broadband Communities initiative in 2015-2016
• 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080

Find more articles on broadband in Jackson County. (http://tinyurl.com/h3vyqx9)

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)