Fillmore County
| Year | 100/20 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #73 – 78.93% | #52 – 53.24% |
| 2024 | #72 – 73.52% | |
| 2023 | #66 – 74.18% | |
| 2022 | #75 – 64.95% | |
| 2021 | #74 – 56.36% | |
| 2020 | #76 – 53.47% | |
| 2019 | #70 – 50.3% | |
| 2018 | #58 – 44.19% | |
| 2017 | #52 – 44.11% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Fillmore County: Moving forward at a pace
Fillmore County has seen steady progress in broadband expansion in the last couple years. The receive funding at the end of 2024, which may not have been completely realized by now.
At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 765 locations in Fillmore County. Some locations will get fiber and some will get 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. (Fillmore has not benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that may be a new route to consider.)
Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty. But some of that change has increased provider engagement in Fillmore County, which is part of how they retain their Yellow status.
Household Density
10.7
Number of Providers
15
As of 2025 · Source: MN DEED
Households with Device Access
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
Has Worked with Blandin Foundation
No
Has Received MN Grant(s)
Yes
2016 – ACENTEK RURAL LANESBORO FIBER BUILD – GRANT: $1,777,936
2017 – Rushford Village/Rural Rushford Fiber Build – Grant $2,011,628
2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Fountain 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $202,125
2020 – Harmony Telephone received a USDA ReConnect award to better serve Fillmore County. They received a $2.7 million ReConnect Program loan and a $2.7 million ReConnect Program grant.
AcenTek – Rural Peterson Exchange FTTH – GRANT $1,492,096 This last mile project will serve 214 unserved households, 18 unserved businesses, 88 unserved farms, and two unserved community anchor institutions as well as 47 underserved households and five underserved businesses in areas of Fillmore and Winona counties. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota and Fillmore County EDA, AcenTek will improve these 374 locations’ broadband levels up to 1 Gbps download and 100 Mbps upload.
MiBroadband, LLC – Rural Preston FTTP – GRANT $1,173,330 The Rural Preston fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) project will serve 231 unserved and 26 underserved locations in the rural portions of southern Fillmore County.
2022 – Harmony Telephone Company, $1,129,740.00
2023 – Harmony Telephone Company – North Fountain Fiber-To-The-Premises GRANT – $2,991,038
2023 – Harmony Telephone Company – Rural Preston Fiber-To-The-Premises GRANT – $1,044,436
2024:
- County: Fillmore
Ace Telephone Association Rural Canton
Grant: $2,567,200
Local Match: $3,850,800
Total Budget: $6,418,000
The Ace Telephone Association project will work to bring broadband services to southeastern Minnesota’s Filmore County, and rural areas around the community of Canton through Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology with data rates of up to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) to each subscriber on the network. This project will bring service to 275 locations, 199 unserved and 76 served, consisting of 212 households, 24 businesses, and 39 farms. - County: Fillmore, Olmsted, Winona
MiEnergy Cooperative South West Fremont
Grant: $3,164,721
Local Match: $4,747,086
Total Budget: $7,911,807
The MiEnergy Cooperative project will see built Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) in the rural areas Southwest of Fremont, Minnesota located primarily in Winona and Filmore Counties. This project will provide services to 396 addresses, including 342 unserved and 54 underserved, and bridge the digital divide by offering residents access to essential services such as telemedicine, online education, and remote work opportunities. Funding partner Mabel Cooperative Telephone Company is contributing $2,373,543. - County: Fillmore
Mediacom LLC
Mediacom – Oakhill/Spring Valley
Grant: $33,863
Local Match: $79,015
Total Budget: $112,878
This broadband grant project is focused on the area of Oak Hill Drive in Spring Valley, MN located in Fillmore County. This project will provide Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband service with speeds up to 2,000 Mbps download and 1,000 Mbps upload to a total of 36 households. Since 2019, Mediacom has completed 18 Fiber to the Home broadband grant projects. These broadband grant projects built 257.81 miles of fiber and connected an estimated 4,543 locations.