Rank: 86
Code: Red
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Sibley	65.46	86	61.19	86	56.55	49	17

Sibley County: still stuck

Sibley County’s broadband coverage has dipped, slightly but a few times over the years. The have some BEAD money coming in but only for fixed wireless and satellite. They retain their Red status.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 954 locations in Sibley County. The 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. (Sibley has not 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)	61.19	63.23	63.51	65.63	65.29	62.86	62.87	62.84	51.01
25/3 (2022 goal)	65.46	66.74	66.82	69.76	70.05	74.29	73.59	63.47	71.27

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 Sibley: 954
The locations include a majority of satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	AMG Technology Investment Group, LLC d/b/a Nextlink Internet	IBT Group USA, LLC	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fixed Wireless	Fixed Wireless
Sibley	21	924	9	954	Sibley

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 Sibley 0 was invested over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Mediacom launches multi-gig broadband in Arlington (Sibley County)
• Mediacom expands multi-gig service to parts of Renville, Sibley, Carver and McLeod Counties

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $20.4 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, Sibley ranked 53 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants

• 2017 – Winthrop Telephone Company, Inc. – Cornish Township FTTP Project – GRANT $365,895
• 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
• 2014 – R-S Fiber Cooperative, FTTH Project – Award: $1 million.

• MN State Grant awarded in 2021: Winthrop Telephone Company, Inc. – Bismarck & Transit Township FTTP Project – GRANT $716,000 This last mile project will serve 148 unserved and six underserved locations, including homes, businesses and farms, in Bismarck, Transit and Round Grove townships in Sibley and McLeod counties

Find more articles on broadband in Sibley County (https://blandinonbroadband.org/?s=sibley&submit=Search)

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)