Promoting locally rooted, democratically accountable broadband networks that provide fast, affordable, and reliable Internet access to all Americans.
A community broadband network, we define, as a publicly-owned, locally-controlled broadband network, which can include public-private partnerships. The most common kinds of community networks are municipal networks and cooperatives.
There are more than 1000 localities across the nation served by a community broadband network with many more in the planning or construction phase.
Having tracked and documented broadband developments for nearly 20 years, we have amassed the nation’s largest storehouse of information on community-driven efforts to solve local connectivity challenges.
We invite you to explore our trove of information on the birth and development of community broadband and portal into communitynets.org where we offer free access to over 4,000 stories, nearly 600 podcasts, dozens of reports, policy briefs, case studies, instructional videos, and other resources.
CommunityNets.org
In 2011, we built our first map showing where community-owned networks were around the United States.
At the time, it aimed to illustrate what we knew to be true: that more than a hundred communities were choosing to fix a broken broadband marketplace by building and/or operating their own networks. The goal was twofold: to highlight the work local governments were doing to solve the connectivity challenges in their communities, and collect in one place the breadth, depth, and variety of community-owned networks.
Here is the new version of our Community Networks Map, showing where municipal networks operate and how they are bringing new more affordable service and competition to communities across the country.
Because the map is interactive, users can explore the various types of municipal networks that span the U.S., explore the layers of data embedded in the map, and glean a variety of emerging community broadband trends and insights.
Community Networks Map
Timnath, Colorado officials have broken ground on a new municipal fiber network that should dramatically expand affordable fiber access to the town of 7,100 residents.
The American Association for Public Broadband launched a mentorship program to pair communities pursuing municipal broadband with communities that have successfully done so.
Frontline digital inclusion practitioners from across the nation came together to focus on "Coalition Building for Success” on the most recent Building for Digital Equity...
ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team kicks off the new Digital Opportunity Lab deep in the heart of Texas.
ILSR's Sean Gonsalves gives Wisconsin Public Radio national context on open access networks and state preemption laws that ban or erect barriers to municipal broadband.
ILSR's Chris Mitchell shares insights on the mission and vision of the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps he partnered in forming with Matthew Rantanen.
A federal affordable Internet program is ending. But muni-owned broadband networks have figured out how to deliver affordable high-speed Internet access themselves.
Sean Gonsalves writes in The American Prospect how the $65 billion moon shot to bring every American affordable broadband is failing low-income communities of color.
Only by relying on one another, cultivating a spirit of togetherness, and taking big, collective action in our communities can we win the future we all deserve. A future where we all have the freedom to control our own destinies, unshackled from the whims of corporate bosses, liberated to build lives and livelihoods that embody the character of our communities. If you believe in this future, support our work today.