Rank: 30
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Sherburne	96.63	30	95.11	30	21.68	83	16

Sherburne County: Great improvement

After a nice increase in 2024, broadband coverage in Sherburne County stayed stagnant in 2025 but it seems they are working with providers on BEAD projects so that should help in 2026. 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 1,601 locations in Sherburne County. The majority of locations will get fiber the rest 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. (Sherburne 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.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	95.11	95	87.19	82.82	90.69	73.66	72.36	67.11	28.02
25/3 (2022 goal)	96.63	96.54	90.08	86.14	95.78	82.9	91.63	89.23	75.4

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 Sherburne 1,601
The locations include a majority of fiber with a mix of cable, satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	East Central Energy Fiber	IBT Group USA, LLC	Midco	Midco	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Spectrum Mid-America, LLC	Tekstar Communications, Inc. (Arvig)	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Fixed Wireless	Cable Coax	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber	Fiber
Sherburne	96	69	425	8	909	6	73	15	1,601	Sherburne

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 Sherburne $899,457 was invested in three projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Sherburne County providers received $22,482.03 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

• Sherburne County supports BEAD applications with four broadband providers
• Sherburne County to expands Arvig Elk River and Haven/Clear Lake Broadband Grant Program

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $66.5 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, Sherburne ranked 8 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Sherburne County has worked with the Blandin Foundation. They seemed to renew an interest in broadband post-pandemic.

Past Grants

• 2023: Arvig (Tekstar) – Sherburne County Area Fiber Extension – GRANT $182,576
• 2022: Tekstar Communications, Inc. dba Arvig, $1,075,943.50 (Learn more)

• 2017 – Palmer Wireless – Sherburne County Road 3 – GRANT $110,661
• 2016 – PALMER WIRELESS BIG LAKE INDUSTRIAL PARK – GRANT: $ 90,988
• 2016 – PALMER WIRELESS DEL TONE ROAD AND ST. CLOUD AIRPORT – GRANT: $ 179,400
• 2014 – Palmer Wireless, Becker Industrial Park – Award: $151,934.

Find more articles on broadband in Sibley County(http://tinyurl.com/ztm6c9n)

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)