BROADCASTS.com

People say, \u201cbroadband is just like electricity in the 1920s. That\u2019s why electric co-ops were formed, and why they need to build community broadband.\u201d 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?\n\nChris 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\u2019s broadband co-op, \u201cRS Fiber:\xa0Fertile Fields for New Rural Internet Cooperative.\u201d\n\nMitchell delves into why:\nThe 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.