Brown County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2021	#49 of 87	75.99%
2020	#48 of 87	74.6%
2019	#45 of 87	74.5%
2018	#27 of 87	73.76%
2017	#24 of 87	72.89%

Coverage Map

Rank: 50 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps)

Brown County has seen only very incremental broadband increase since 2017. In 2020, after receiving a state broadband grant, Nuvera reported that construction had begun on in rural areas of Sleepy Eye, Hutchinson and Mazeppa. An enhanced fixed wireless solution was also installed in rural New Ulm by St. George. That network was recently announced.

In December 2020, local legislators (Rep. Paul Torkelson, R and Sen. Gary Dahms, R) met to talk about broadband. So, it is at least on the radar. Also projected allocation of American Recovery Project ARP funds in Brown is $4,850,148; broadband is one possible use.

Brown County will benefit from a MN State Grant awarded in 2021:

• Minnesota Valley Telephone Company (MVTC) – Rural Franklin Fiber Project – GRANT $226,800. This middle and last mile project will serve approximately 45 unserved locations in the City of Franklin and the townships of Sherman, Eden, Camp and Birch Cooley in Redwood, Renville and Brown counties.

Brown County gets a red because while legislators are interested and there is a provider that is engaging in the area, there doesn’t seem to be a lot more buzz or activity to improve broadband.

Past grants:

• 2107 – New Ulm Telecom, Inc.– Hanska A&D FTTP – GRANT $324,894
• 2016 – New Ulm Telecom, Inc. – Hanska – GRANT: $ 200,397
• 2019: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – New Ulm SW Project – GRANT $385,600

Find more articles on broadband in Brown County. (http://tinyurl.com/z2wwkye)