Cottonwood County

Table of goal data by year

Year	25/3 Mbps	100/20 Mbps
2019	#68 of 87 74.17%	#59 of 87 66.67%
2018	#70 of 87 67.89%	#38 of 87 66.34%
2017	#69 of 87 60.52%	#73 of 87 19.24%

County Profile Coverage Map

Rank: 59 (out of 87) for access to 100/20 broadband megabits per second (Mbps)

Cottonwood County is not poised to meet the 2022 or 2026 Minnesota state speed goals. Prior to 2018 they made great progress toward  the 2026 goal, but they have seen little progress since then.

Windom, the county seat, participated in Blandin Foundation’s 2009-2012 Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Program. Frustrated with poor internet connectivity, in 2004 the residents of Windom voted in favor of a municipal network, and construction of the fiber-to-the-home system began in 2004. The Institute for Local Self Reliance has estimated a yearly community benefit from WindomNet of over $400,000.

Cottonwood has worked with the Blandin Foundation. Cottonwood County has benefited from two state broadband grants:

• 2016 – WOODSTOCK TELEPHONE WESTBROOK – GRANT: $412,391
  Serviging 368 unserved households, 29 unserved businesses, and 7 unserved community anchor institutions in the city of Westbrook in Cottonwood County in southwest Minnesota.
• 2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile
  Grant award: $808,080
  A Middle Mile broadband infrastructure buildout to upgrade backhaul capacity between site locations within 20 southwestern Minnesota counties that will improve services to state speed goal levels and above to 6,000 households and businesses that are current MVTV customers, with leverage possibility of 29,000 more. The counties are: Blue Earth, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Rock, Redwood, Renville, Sibley Swift, Watonwan, and Yellow Medicine.

In 2018 they also benefited from a partnership between SDN Communications and the Southwest West Central (SWWC) Service Cooperative building a fiber-based internet service that will connect more than 30 school districts, including Cottonwood.

They will need to make a concerted effort to make the 2026 goal, but they have done it before so they may be able to succeed.

Find more articles on broadband in Cottonwood County.