Let's Do This

Funding

Publicly owned broadband provides accessible and affordable Internet, bridging the digital divide. When decisions about infrastructure improvements and upgrades are made with the public good – not profit – at heart, local needs are better served. Funding for community-owned fiber networks is available. In British Columbia, begin by clicking the $ sign above. In other regions, check with your provincial government. Another option is to choose a cooperative structure for community fiber projects.

Success Stories

Over 750 communities across North America have installed their own municipal fiber networks. The benefits? Community owned optical fiber wired infrastructure can provide cheaper, faster, net neutral, environmentally protective, safe and secure Internet. In fact, the fastest Internet Service Provider in America - Chattanooga's EPB - is community owned and operated. Click on the check mark above to learn about some Canadian success stories.

Support

Projects like British Columbia's Connected Coast - which is bringing high-speed fiber optics to the doorstep of 154 rural and First Nations communities - are making community-owned fiber-to-the-premises networks possible. Use the Action Package found by clicking on the orange steering wheel icon above to encourage your elected officials to choose safe, secure, sustainable wired last-mile options.

Build an Information Highway that Puts You in the Driver’s Seat

A telecom may have already installed a fiber-to-the premises network where you live. So why should your community build their own?

Telecom-owned systems – 5G included – are proprietary and give corporations control over communications services, equipment, and pricing. They may even determine and shape what data may be transmitted over their networks.

Community-driven, wired fiber-to-the-premises networks offer local accountability for an essential service, resulting in affordable and neutral data delivery. As this 2018 Harvard University study shows, they provide us with the least expensive internet, and may generate profit when the community owns them.
Smart cities are wired cities and like water and electricity, high speed fiber broadband is now a basic utility.
With the fastest, most cyber-secure data transmission available, community-centered wired fiber optic networks make alternative energy distribution and storage, emergency service upgrades, transportation coordination, water system management, and improved healthcare, education, and business opportunities a breeze.
See this fact sheet to learn more about successful community-owned fiber models other regions have implemented. This interactive map shows 750 communities in the US that have invested in telecommunications networks.

What Experts Say

Do You Want the Fastest, Safest, Cheapest, most Cyber-Secure Network Available? Locally-Controlled Wired Fiber is the Answer
Dr. Timothy Schoechle

Dr. Timothy Schoechle

“Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks”

“Today we are at a turning point. The basic organizing principles of our society are at stake. The Internet is our public commons, and it must not be enclosed or walled off by private interests. As in the early days of the telephone or electricity, access must be made available to all—and in a form that is fast, affordable, neutral, sustainable, enduring, safe, fair, and just. To accomplish this, action must be taken at all levels of governance—but the roots of all political action are—and must be—local.”

Larry Thompson and Warren Vande Stadt

Larry Thompson and Warren Vande Stadt

"5G Is Not the Answer For Rural Broadband, " Vantage Point Solutions

"...To deliver the high speeds and high capacity that many hope for, 5G requires a deep fiber network very similar to FTTP (fiber to the premises). When one puts fiber so deep into a network, why stop at the small cell rather than at the premises a few hundred feet away? Fiber to the premises allows much higher speeds and availability without the same kinds of capacity limitations.”

Amir Nasr

Amir Nasr

"The Wireless Industry's 5G Hype Is Funny and Overblown"

“The arguments that 5G will bring such high speeds, eventually replace fixed broadband, and improve rural broadband are largely unfounded and potentially overblown...Mobile services aren’t a viable substitute for fixed broadband. Mobile data plans are strictly limited compared to fixed services... Further, a mobile device is unsuitable for important online activities such as finding employment, teleworking, and homework.“