Freeborn County
| Year | 100/20 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #43 – 88.72% | #15 – 88.55% |
| 2024 | #36 – 89.55% | |
| 2023 | #28 – 89.1% | |
| 2022 | #29 – 86.36% | |
| 2021 | #32 – 85.89% | |
| 2020 | #27 – 84.51% | |
| 2019 | #25 – 83.88% | |
| 2018 | #71 – 34.18% | |
| 2017 | #11 – 94.59% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Freeborn County: Slow progress
Freeborn County has been stagnant for several years. Access has declined in the last year, although within an acceptable margin.
At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 0 locations in Freeborn County.
There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Freeborn has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems like a new route to consider.)
Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.
After a few years of stagnation and no prospects with BEAD funding, Freeborn has slipped to Red status.
Household Density
17.3
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
2015 – BEVCOMM Cannon Valley Telecom – Rural Freeborn Fiber-to-the-Premises Project – Grant award: $149,625
2016 – CANNON VALLEY TELECOM, INC. (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL FREEBORN – GRANT: $150,700
2017 – BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telephone) – Freeborn Southwest Rural Final – GRANT $122,460
Freeborn is also getting almost $2 million in FCC funding but that is over the next 10 years.
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 – ReConnect program, will help connect over 6,000 people, 150 businesses, and 680 farms across Freeborn, Morrison, Stearns, Houston, and Todd counties.
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.