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Burlington Telecom, a publicly owned broadband network in Vermont, transitioned from a hopeful star of the community broadband movement to the first example used by those opposed to government investing in the infrastructure of the 21st century.

Our new report investigates the mistakes made by Burlington Telecom, extracts lessons for community networks to avoid similar pitfalls, and discusses the ways Burlington Telecom has benefitted the community even as it was mismanaged. More

With the vast majority of Americans greatly overpaying for slow and unreliable broadband compared to connections in Europe and Asia, hundreds of communities have started building their own networks.

These networks have been incredibly successful, but massive corporations have smeared them with lies and accusations of failure. We created this video to demonstrate their stunning, if underreported, successes. Watch the video on Huffington Post or on YouTube. More

On June 1, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation held an oxford-style debate over the proposition: "Governments should neither subsidize nor operate broadband networks to compete with commercial ones."  

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative, argued that local governments must always have the option of building and operating their own networks if the community so desires.  Watch the video on YouTube. More

ILSR has continued working to preserve local authority to build broadband networks in both North Carolina and South Carolina.  Massive companies like AT&T and Time Warner Cable are lobbying heavily to strip communities of deciding locally whether to build and own essential infrastructure -- networks that these companies are often not willing to build.  

We recently published an op-ed in North Carolina and have written about South Carolina as well. More

ILSR has released the Community Broadband Map, showing the location of over one hundred communities that have rejected the tyranny of existing carriers and built their own networks.  Along with the map, ILSR has released a report, Publicly Owned Broadband Networks: Averting the Looming Broadband Monopoly.

“The Community Broadband Map reveals the depth and breadth of publicly owned networks,” says Christopher Mitchell, Director of ILSR’s Telecommunications as Commons Initiative.  More

ILSR produced a video to highlight the impressive dominance of publicly-owned networks in North Carolina.  

The state has two community fiber networks, Wilson's Greenlight and Salisbury's Fibrant.  Together, these networks are the most advanced broadband networks in the state, offering residents and businesses globally competitive packages. More

While the rest of the world is working to become more innovative and competitive, the North Carolina General Assembly is considering a bill that will stifle innovation, hurt job creation and slow economic development. The Bill, H129/S87 will effectively prevent any community from building a broadband network and impose onerous restrictions on existing networks.ILSR is helping groups in North Carolina to stop this bill from becoming law. More