Institute for Local Self-Reliance Issues Community Broadband Report

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2011 – The Institute for Local Self-Reliance unveiled its Community Broadband Network Map and Report on Wednesday.

ILSR is a think tank operating out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. and is dedicated to sustainable community development.

The map displays the location of 54 fiber networks and 79 cable networks owned by local governments, the largest of which is the EPB Fiber Optics network in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Currently Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas impose strict bans on any telecommunications or exchange services operated by local towns. Several other states have also imposed strict regulations on how networks may be established creating a de facto ban.

“Many of these were the first to bring broadband to their residents. Others offer some of the best deals available in the country,” said Christopher Mitchell, Director of ILSR’s Telecommunications as Commons Initiative in a press statement Wednesday.

The accompanying report provides a history of community based broadband networks along with a detailed description of how state legislators are preventing local communities from establishing local networks.