Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model For The Internet Era (Updated May 2020)

Authors
H. Trostle
Katie Kienbaum
Michelle Andrews
Ny Ony Razafindrabe
Christopher Mitchell
Date
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This is an update to our report Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model For The Internet Era, which we originally published in 2017. The report explores the extent and growth of cooperative fiber networks in rural areas. In this version, we updated the maps and other information in the report with the most recent broadband deployment data from the Federal Communications Commission.

Download the May 2020 update of the report, Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model For The Internet Era [pdf].

All versions of this report are available in the Reports Archive.

Highlights from this edition of Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America include:

  • More than 109 rural electric cooperatives have invested in fiber optics to provide broadband access or have fiber projects underway.
  • Cooperative fiber networks cover nearly 82 percent of North Dakota by area, more than 53 percent of South Dakota, and about a quarter of Iowa, Minnesota, and Montana.
  • Updated maps display the extent of rural cooperative networks, the change in network coverage between June 2018 and June 2019, and the predicted future growth of cooperative networks.

Read the updated report, Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model For The Internet Era [pdf].