What We Do

Telecommunications reaches almost every aspect of our daily lives. Today, communities are looking for cost effective ways to expand accessibility, achieve reliability, and save precious public dollars. More and more community leaders pursue local control of connectivity through public ownership, cooperative models, and other nonprofit approaches. At the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we provide resources for those joining the movement to build broadband networks that are directly accountable to the communities they serve. We offer case studies, fact sheets, and video to help leaders make decisions about community owned networks. We strive to offer resources for informed decisions, because we know each community is unique. Telecommunications infrastructure is essential to the health and vitality of a community. Networks must be accountable first to the needs of the community, not the short-term interests of shareholders.