
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
In 2011, we built our first map showing where community-owned networks were located across the United States. At the time, it aimed to illustrate what we knew to be true: that more than 100 communities were choosing to fill the local broadband marketplace by building and/or operating their own networks.
The goal was twofold: to highlight the work local governments were doing to fix the broken broadband market in their communities, and collect in one place the breadth, depth, and variety of community-owned networks. Over time, we added Tribal networks, and those operated by telephone and electric cooperatives.
Today we release a new version of our Community Networks Map, showing where municipal networks operate across the United States and how they are bringing new, more affordable service and competition to communities around the country. From 130 networks covering a similar number of communities in 2011, the new map shows that municipally owned Internet service providers now total more than 400 networks covering more than 700 communities. A third of those networks provide high-speed Internet access to nearly every address in the communities where they are located.
This map is interactive, with filters to let users display networks by business model and community population, as well as show communities where publicly owned infrastructure is citywide, the presence of partnerships, and where there is 10-gigabit service being offered. Use the search bar at the top right to find a network or community.
Municipal Network Trends
What else can we see as a result of the last 13 years of hard work by cities and towns across the country?
Navigating The Map
If you zoom in you’ll see networks that cover more than one community connected by a web. Click on any community to see the network that serves it and the business model(s) that are operational. Toggle between Light and Dark Mode, use the Export to PDF button to print what is being displayed on your screen, or the Reset Filters button to return to the map’s default state.
The engine behind this map is equally exciting, and comes from a new custom database we’ve been building which allows us to track the life cycle of community networks in more detail than ever before. We have big plans for the future, including adding Tribal networks, with telephone and electric cooperative networks to follow.
See a missing community, or have a correction? Email me at [email protected].