Faribault County
| Year | 100/20 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #27 – 95.77% | #9 – 95.77% |
| 2024 | #31 – 91.83% | |
| 2023 | #72 – 70.43% | |
| 2022 | #62 – 72.68% | |
| 2021 | #84 – 43.95% | |
| 2020 | #83 – 40.56% | |
| 2019 | #77 – 39.2% | |
| 2018 | #60 – 42.28% | |
| 2017 | #44 – 49.13% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Faribault County: Found traction to move forward
Faribault County has seen great increases in broadband coverage in the last two years.
At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 7 locations in Faribault County. They will all get satellite connections, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute. Also, it’s telling that so few providers bid on the area, that being said, there are providers who are coming into the area without the incentive.
There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Faribault hasn’t benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that might be a new route to funding.) Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which may lead to uncertainty, which may be helpful or hurtful to the area.
Faribault retains their Green status; they seem on they way to meeting state goals.
Household Density
8.8
Number of Providers
13
As of 2025 · Source: MN DEED
Households with Device Access
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
Has Worked with Blandin Foundation
Yes
Has Received MN Grant(s)
Yes
2017 – BEVCOMM (Easton Telephone Company) – Delavan SE Rural Project – GRANT $220,350
2016 – BLUE EARTH VALLEY TELEPHONE CO. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL WINNEBAGO – GRANT: $152,828
2015 – BEVCOMM Blue Earth Valley Telephone – Rural Winnebago Fiber-to-the-Premises Project – Grant award: $142,690
BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company & Easton Telephone Company) – Rural Faribault County Project – GRANT: $579,781
BEVCOMM received CARES Act funding from the County for broadband expansion.
BEVCOMM (Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company, Easton Telephone Company & Cannon Valley Telecom) – Rural Faribault County and Martin County Fiber Expansion Phase 2 Project – GRANT $1,182,818 This last mile project will serve approximately two unserved households, 203 underserved households, 46 underserved businesses, and 181 underserved farms in portions of Faribault and Martin counties.
Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association – SE Faribault/W Freeborn County FTTP – GRANT $953,842 This last-mile fiber optic project will bring service to 319 unserved locations, including 289 homes, 16 businesses, 11 farms, and three community anchor institutions in the townships of Clark, Foster, Kiester, Seely, Alden, Carlston, Manchester, Mansfield, and Pickerel Lake located in Southeastern Faribault and Western Freeborn counties.
2022 – Blue Earth Valley Telephone Co., dba Bevcomm and Cannon Valley Telecom, Inc.,dba Bevcomm, $1,444,030.00
2024:
- County: Faribault, Freeborn
Blue Earth Valley Telephone Company Faribault County Fiber Expansion Project – Final Phase
Grant: $1,779,163
Local Match: $5,337,488
Total Budget: $7,116,651
The Faribault County Fiber Expansion Project – Final Phase project will build an underground fiber network to serve the remaining unserved and underserved locations in Faribault county’s rural Wells and Blue Earth, offering speeds of up to a Gigabit symmetrically with unlimited data. This final phase, last mile project will impact a total of 543 addresses, of which 423 are unserved and 120 are underserved, and includes 205 homes, 59 businesses, and 279 farms. Faribault County EDA has pledged $5,000 toward this project. - County: Blue Earth, Faribault
Bevcomm (Easton) Telephone
Bevcomm (Easton) Rural MN Lake
Grant: $435,838
Local Match: $1,016,956
Total Budget: $1,452,794
Bevcomm will build an underground fiber broadband network to 101 locations (86 unserved and 15 underserved), offering speeds up to a Gigabit symmetrically with unlimited data, to portions of rural Faribault and Blue Earth Counties. This project will impact 55 farms, 32 households, and 14 businesses. Faribault County EDA has pledged $5,000 and Minnesota Lake Township has pledged $1,000 toward project costs. Bevcomm has to date received 25 state grants, all of which have been successfully deployed and completed on time.
Government Districts
U.S. Congress: CD 1
MN Senate: 22, 23
MN House: 22A, 23A