Rank: 74
Code:  Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Martin	80.27	75	77.22	74	23.81	81	13

Martin County: slow, incremental growth

Martin County’s broadband coverage growth has been incremental and slow. In 2024, a MN State grant for $8 million was awarded in the area but the impact of that has not yet been reflected on the maps that is why they have been bumped into red status.

In Martin County there has historically had a discrepancy between wireline access and wireline with fixed wireless. Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the BEAD does include access to fixed wireless, which means those fixed wireless locations do not qualify for BEAD.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 50 locations in Martin County. All of those locations qualify for fiber access, which is nice.

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

Martin County

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	77.22	74.65	72.6	67.03	66.71	68.24	55.22	54.8	54.06
25/3 (2022 goal)	80.27	80.06	78.92	83.59	81.51	71.81	80.29	56.38	55.64

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 Martin: 50
The locations all qualify for fiber.

County	Federated Rural Electric Association	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Fiber
Martin	50	50	Martin

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 Aitkin $804842 was invested in one project over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Martin County providers received $23,220.72 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

• Federated Broadband Holds Groundbreaking For Martin County Fiber Project

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $22.3 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, Martin ranked 61using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants

• County: Martin – Federated Rural Electric Association Martin County Low Density
  Grant: $8,008,419, Local Match: $2,669,473, Total Budget: $10,677,892
• 2022: Grants: Bevcomm – Rural Faribault and Martin Counties Fiber Expansion Project – Phase Three – GRANT $1,444,030 (serving Faribault and Martin Counties)

• MN State Grant awarded in 2021: 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.

• 2017- BEVCOMM (Granada Telephone Company) — Granada Rural Final – GRANT: $202,410
• 2016 – GRANADA TELEPHONE COMPANY (DBA BEVCOMM) SOUTH RURAL GRANADA – GRANT:  $157,920
• 2016 – MARTIN COUNTY (WITH FRONTIER) RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVE – GRANT: $1,677,823
• BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company & Easton Telephone Company) – Rural Faribault County Project – GRANT: $579,781

Find more articles on broadband in Martin County (http://tinyurl.com/h37zf6l)

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)