Western Massachusetts Towns Become National Model for Community Broadband

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. Nov. 18, 2025 – A new report released today chronicles the inspiring journey of a group of small, rural towns in western Massachusetts that joined together to build their own bridge across the digital divide — creating the most geographically dense cluster of municipal fiber networks in the United States.

New Report: Public Partnerships Transform Internet Access in Western Massachusetts | Welcome to Community Networks

In a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we tell the story of how 19 very small Western Massachusetts towns worked together over a decade and a half to build an alternative to the monopoly broadband marketplace and deploy their own municipal networks. It’s a unique story of perseverance and the power of public partnerships. “Seeking the Commonwealth of Connection: How Small-Town Volunteers and Public Partnerships Transformed Internet Access in Western Massachusetts tells the story of how this came to be, and the impact it is had for residents, businesses, and community anchor institutions in the region.

Welcome to Community NetworksRy Marcattilio

In just four years, from 2018 to 2021, 19 towns across the foothills of western Massachusetts designed, financed, and built their own fiber-to-the-home networks. What began as a volunteer-led effort ultimately transformed the region’s digital landscape from an underserved desert, where residents relied on outdated DSL or costly cable services, into an oasis of world-class connectivity.

Today, nearly every resident in most of these towns subscribes to publicly owned, locally controlled Internet service, where costs are affordable and customer satisfaction is sky-high.