Kandiyohi County
| Year | 100/20 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #67 – 80.69% | #37 – 64.83% |
| 2024 | #61 – 80.43% | |
| 2023 | #74 – 69.12% | |
| 2022 | #69 – 68.18% | |
| 2021 | #53 – 74.82% | |
| 2020 | #49 – 73.78% | |
| 2019 | #48 – 72.89% | |
| 2018 | #86 – 10.64% | |
| 2017 | #79 – 8.14% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Kandiyohi County: stagnant at 80 percent coverage
After some nice expansion last year, Kandiyohi County broadband access stayed stagnant in 2025. They retain their Yellow access because they have been engaged for years and seem to be in line for some fiber funding when BEAD is disbursed.
At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 712 locations in Kandiyohi County. A little more than half of locations will get fiber while the rest will get a satellite, 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. (Kandiyohi has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems hopeful for them as well.)
Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.
Household Density
20.4
Number of Providers
21
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
2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
2016 – FRONTIER KANDIYOHI INITIATIVE – GRANT: $1,015,275
2017 – Consolidated Telecommunications Co. (CTC) was awarded a $4.94 million grant to improve serves in New London, Spicer and Willmar, and Frontier was awarded a grant of $1.02 million to improve service in rural Kandiyohi County. Unfortunately, the CTC project did not work out.
2022 – Federated Telephone Cooperative, $4,913,505.50
2023 – Meeker Coop Light & Power – Lake Elizabeth-East Lake Lillian Townships – GRANT $1,428,066
2023 – Meeker Coop Light & Power – Harrison Township – GRANT $533,959
2024:
- County: Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Gennessee Township
Grant: $662,430
Local Match: $809,637
Total Budget: $1,472,067
The Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Gennessee Township project will provide fiber-to-the premise broadband access to rural sites in Gennessee Township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. This project will improve unserved/underserved levels of service up to 1 gigabit per second download and upload speeds resulting in more efficient and effective e-learning, telemedicine options and enhanced precision agriculture tools to 167 locations, including 120 unserved and 47 underserved addresses. Kandiyohi County has pledged $327,692 and Gennessee Township has pledged $71,200 towards this project. - County: Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association 58 – Kandiyohi Township
Grant: $744,965
Local Match: $910,513
Total Budget: $1,655,478
The Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Kandiyohi Township project will provide fiber-to-the premise broadband access to rural sites in Kandiyohi Township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. This project will improve unserved/underserved levels of service up to 1 gigabit per second download and upload speeds resulting in more efficient and effective e-learning, telemedicine options and enhanced precision agriculture tools to 188 locations, including 136 unserved and 52 underserved addresses. Kandiyohi County has pledged $224,000 and Kandiyohi Township has pledged $71,600 towards this project. - County: Kandiyohi
Federated Telephone Cooperated
Federated Tel – W Kandiyohi
Grant: $8,202,000
Local Match: $8,202,000
Total Budget: $16,404,000
The Kandiyohi County Western FTTP Project is a buried Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) high-speed wireline broadband development project that will serve 1,289 locations in the five Kandiyohi County Townships of Colfax, Dovre, Lake Andrew, Norway Lake and St. Johns. Funding partners include Kandiyohi County ($2,423,575), Colfax Township ($483,600), Dovre Township ($11,700), Lake Andrew Township ($1,103,700), Norway Lake Township ($3,510) and St. Johns Township ($45,500). Of the total 1,289 locations that will be served, 458 are currently unserved (including at least 35 farms, 22 businesses, and 2 community anchor institutions) and 831 are underserved (including at least 23 farms, 27 business, and 2 community anchor institutions). At the completion of this project, all 1,289 locations will have access to service packages up to one (1) gigabit symmetrical speeds. Currently, FTC’s service area includes eight different Minnesota counties covering approximately 2,000 square miles with 2,800 miles of fiber. - County: Kandiyohi
Meeker Coop Light & Power Association
Meeker Fahlun
Grant: $590,709
Local Match: $590,710
Total Budget: $1,181,419
Meeker’s Fahlun project includes $333,587 of Kandiyohi County ($283,986.50) and Fahlun Township ($49,600) ARPA funds in order to provide fiber-to-the-premise broadband to 124 rural sites in Fahlun Township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. The project area includes several businesses and farms, as well as a township hall. Meeker has provided electrical power to its members since 1935 and satellite internet service since 2005. As VIBRANT Broadband, they launched fixed wireless and fiber to the home broadband services in July 2019. VIBRANT Broadband is currently installed in over 5100 locations in rural central Minnesota.