East Central Energy serves a diverse range of members with 90,000 meters across mostly rural portions of Central Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin. The cooperative’s 67,000 members include homes, farms, businesses and even municipalities.
Broadband
Electric cooperatives bridge the rural-urban digital divide
Electric cooperatives began with a simple but powerful mission: bring light to places left in the dark. In the 1930s, they transformed rural America, and today, they’re doing it again. By delivering broadband alongside electricity, co-ops are strengthening the future of rural communities—supporting healthcare, education, local businesses, and agriculture, while keeping people connected to opportunity and to each other.
Why are electric cooperatives providing retail broadband to rural communities?
- Deep expertise investing in long-term infrastructure
- A history of meeting unmet needs for vital services
- Strong brand recognition and a great reputation in the communities they serve
- Broadband is a natural revenue enhancement for fiber deployed for smart grid infrastructure
Offering reliability and modern services [like broadband] to our members is incredibly important to our mission. We are grateful to have a partner like CoBank—during the good times and especially when complex or urgent circumstances arise. We trust that they’ll get it done so we can be there for our members.
Trends to watch
Competition in rural broadband will intensify
- Fixed-wireless access continues to pressure fiber providers through aggressive pricing and bundled wireless offerings.
- National carriers are using wireless plus home bundles to increase customer stickiness and reduce churn.
AI-driven infrastructure spending will reshape demand
- Rising investments in AI and digital infrastructure will heighten expectations for high-capacity, low-latency fiber networks across rural markets.
- Co-ops planning new builds or expansions must incorporate the long-term bandwidth needs of both residents and enterprise customers.
Market conditions will require sharper strategy
- Co-ops will face increased pressure to refine build, partner, sell or buy decisions as the competitive landscape evolves.
- Boards are encouraged to regularly review broadband positioning, including long-term operating model, capitalization strategy and market differentiation.
Expect a more selective M&A environment in 2026
- Broadband valuations have normalized, and buyers are more disciplined—prioritizing high-quality footprints, strong take rates and operational efficiency.
- Co-ops with maturing networks may encounter new opportunities to partner, merge, divest or expand strategically.
Co-ops will continue building on early stage success
- Strong take-rates, mission alignment and fiber built for smart grid continue to make broadband a natural extension for many co-ops.
- As competition increases, co-ops must maintain focus on service quality, local brand trust and community anchored value.
Financing and leasing solutions for your broadband build-out
We laid out a five year plan but have deviated from that plan a couple years in. I think CoBank’s ability to be flexible is one of the primary reasons we’ve been so successful.
Success stories
Questions and answers
For decades, CoBank has supported rural communities through financing, credit solutions, and charitable programs that help them grow and thrive. The FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction is another way we can stand alongside our cooperative partners.
We can support your RDOF efforts in two key ways: by providing the required letters of credit and by offering upfront financing to help get your project built while you wait for RDOF payments.
CoBank has financed dozens of electric cooperative broadband projects, representing more than $1.1 billion in commitments. We’ve also partnered with organizations such as Conexon and NRTC to deliver dozens of training sessions for cooperative management teams and boards nationwide—sharing practical insights on what it takes to launch and operate successful broadband networks.
Let’s start a conversation about your broadband plans and how CoBank can help with the financing and strategic support you need to move forward with confidence.