Rank: 26
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Olmsted	96.64	29	96.16	26	96.11	8	17

Olmsted County: almost there

Olmsted County’s broadband coverage dipped a little from last year, but not beyond an acceptable margin. They are not going to get a lot of help from BEAD funding in terms of meeting MN state broadband goals but they are so close and that’s why they retain their Green status.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 2,329 locations in Olmsted County. Some locations will get fiber but the majority of locations will get a satellite or 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. (Olmsted has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems like a strategy worth considering.)

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

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	96.16	97.23	95.42	94.38	93.9	92.87	92.66	41.29	34
25/3 (2022 goal)	96.64	97.77	96.18	95.41	95.88	95.74	94.63	93.7	97.75

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 Olmsted: 2,329
The locations include a mix of Fiber as well as satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	IBT Group USA, LLC	Mediacom LLC	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fixed Wireless	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Olmsted	989	1,175	43	122	2,329	Olmsted

 

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 Olmsted 0 was invested over the years.

No New Posts from 2025:

Highlights from Past Reports

• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $22.1 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, Olmsted ranked 5 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants

• County: Fillmore, Olmsted, Winona – MiEnergy Cooperative South West Fremont
  Grant: $3,164,721, Local Match: $4,747,086, Total Budget: $7,911,807
• County: Olmsted – Kasson & Mantorville Telephone Company Rural North Byron
  Grant: $515,564, Local Match: $630,134, Total Budget: $1,145,699

• 2023: KM Telecom – Rural Byron & Salem Corners Fiber Build – GRANT $1,931,046
• 2022: Kasson & Mantorville Telephone Company, $1,620,007.00

• 2016 – KMTELECOM RURAL MANTORVILLE – GRANT: $764,663
• 2019: BEVCOMM (Pine Island Telephone Company) – NE Pine Island Fiber Project Phase I – GRANT $222,222

• MN State Grants awarded in 2021: Charter Communications (Spectrum) – Cambridge Hills – GRANT $28,950 This middle and last mile project will serve approximately 41 unserved households in Marion Township in Olmsted County.

• KMTelecom – Rock Dell Northwest Fiber Build – GRANT $385,173 This last mile project will serve approximately 125 unserved locations in the rural Ashland and Vernon townships in Dodge County and Salem Township in Olmsted County.

Find more articles on broadband in Olmsted County (http://tinyurl.com/gmslyhe)

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)