A Co-op. Just for Broadband? Of course!

People say, “broadband is just like electricity in the 1920s. That’s why electric co-ops were formed, and why they need to build community broadband.” But why not build a co-op specifically for broadband? In Minnesota several communities recently started a broadband co-op. Are more on the way?

Chris Mitchell, Director of Community Broadband Networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), makes the case that more rural communities need to create broadband co-ops to address the lack of sufficient highspeed Internet access. ILSR and Next Century Cities just released a report that examines Minnesota’s broadband co-op, “RS Fiber: Fertile Fields for New Rural Internet Cooperative.”

Mitchell delves into why:

• The co-op model makes sense for communities;
• Hybrid wired and wireless infrastructure makes financial sense;
• Broadband co-ops blends the best of public and private worlds;
• We should expect more broadband co-op to form.