The Success of Community and Tribal Networks: Case Studies of FairlawnGig, NextLight, and YurokConnect

Community and tribal broadband networks can provide residents and tribal members with the ability to resolve the challenges posed by the high cost, limited coverage, and low quality of broadband service offered by incumbent, corporate ISPs. Private providers that already service an area may choose not to improve their infrastructure for a variety of reasons, including a lack of financial incentive, a perceived lack of customers, or a lack of competition from other providers in the area who might challenge the incumbent. A 2017 report on community-owned fiber networks showed that community broadband networks charge less for broadband service than do private competitors serving the same communities. It found that residents of 24 areas across the United States where municipal internet service providers were available could save anywhere between $20 to $600 annually by subscribing to the municipal option, rather than to other private competitors in the area.¹

Community networks can therefore deliver higher-speed, more affordable internet service where an incumbent provider does not. They come in a variety of forms. Local governments or public utilities may construct and manage broadband networks on their own, or partner with private companies. Communities may also form their own cooperative to provide broadband service as a utility, similar to electric or telephone utilities.² The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s map of community networks shows that 109 communities across the United States have internet service available through a publicly owned, fiber-to-the-home city network. The map also shows that 73 communities are served by publicly-owned cable networks, and another 196 communities by some form of publicly-owned fiber service.³

The Electric Power Board in Chattanooga, Tenn.; the city of Ammon, Idaho’s fiber optic network; and LUS Fiber in Lafayette, La. are examples of successful municipal networks offering fast broadband service at affordable rates.⁴ By prioritizing the needs of the community and end users, rather than return on investment, these networks keep internet access affordable and high-quality. Such networks, by introducing competition in an area, can also increase pressure on incumbent providers to provide better services. Many other communities across the country have recognized the economic importance of affordable, high-speed internet access and invested in their own successful broadband networks. These include Fairlawn, Ohio; Longmont, Colo.; and the Yurok Tribe in northern California.

Since 2017, the city of Fairlawn, Ohio has offered 1 gigabit (1000 Mbps) residential broadband service through its FairlawnGig network advertised for $75 per month. This “1 Gig” internet, as plans advertised to reach download speeds of 1000 Mbps are often called, is more than ten times as fast as the median download speed advertised in the United States.⁵ Fairlawn’s municipal network is one of the fastest ISPs in the north-central region of the United States, ranking higher in 2019 than national providers like RCN and Comcast Xfinity.⁶ FairlawnGig also offers a service with 300 Mbps symmetric download and upload speeds to residents for $55, more than three times faster than the median download speed for plans advertised in the United States. The network also serves larger organizations and businesses service reaching speeds of up to 100 gigabits.⁷

Fairlawn is a small city in northern Ohio with a population of 7,534.⁸ In 2015, the mayor of Fairlawn proposed a municipal fiber optic and Wi-Fi project called FairlawnGig that would serve people within a “joint economic development district” in eastern Ohio that included the cities of Fairlawn, and parts of Akron and Bath. The mayor believed faster broadband would improve public safety and attract new businesses and young professionals to the area.⁹ Residents were overwhelmingly in favor of the network.¹⁰

As the city does not have a municipal utility, Fairlawn put out a request for proposals and selected Fujitsu to build out the network. Fujitsu would build out the infrastructure, and the city would manage the retail part of the service itself, with 55 percent of the revenue going to the city, and the remainder to Fujitsu.¹¹

The city financed the network with a 30-year industrial development revenue bond and a guarantee of one year’s worth of debt service from an agreement with the Development Finance Authority of Summit County.¹² The deputy director of public service in Fairlawn, Ernie Staten, understood broadband access as essential infrastructure, stating that the network need not break even to be a success.¹³

FairlawnGig was a success right out of the gate. Only a year after its launch, the city reported that the network was serving 1,800 customers, 250 of which were commercial. This represented about 45 percent of the combined personal and commercial market share, far exceeding the network’s initial goal of 35 percent usage.¹⁴ In 2019, journalists found that the network serviced over 50 percent of Fairlawn residents.¹⁵ A variety of private and public organizations are planning on moving or creating commercial spaces in Fairlawn knowing that its fiber broadband service can support their business functions. According to the network’s deputy service director, Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center, a practice with about a dozen facilities in the region, built its flagship orthopedic hospital in Fairlawn based on access to FairlawnGig, despite an offer for free land in nearby Akron.¹⁶ Fairlawn is also finalizing an agreement to handle computer-aided emergency dispatch throughout the county.¹⁷

Fairlawn’s investment in broadband infrastructure is paying off. Beginning as a municipal network, it has grown exponentially into a financially solvent regional provider.¹⁸ FairlawnGig has enjoyed such success that it is expanding into neighboring areas in Medina County, including Parma and more of Akron, Ohio.¹⁹ Though Fairlawn is approximately 20 times smaller than the neighboring city of Akron, Akron granted Fairlawn the right to use two fiber strands owned by Akron to provide service to Bounce, the city’s entrepreneurship and innovation hub.²⁰

Whereas FairlawnGig’s establishment was straightforward, NextLight, the gigabit-speed municipal broadband network offered by the city of Longmont, Colo., overcame many legal and commercial obstacles to arrive at its present success. The network currently offers 25 Mbps broadband service advertised for $39.95 per month, and 1 Gbps service advertised for $69.95 per month, which is discounted to $59.95 for those who have been subscribed for more than 12 consecutive months.²¹ NextLight’s director estimates that close to 90 percent of subscribers are “charter” members, or subscribers to the gigabit-speed service.²² Both advertised service options are priced below $79, the average national price of service per month found by BroadbandNow, and while the 25 Mbps service meets the FCC’s definition of high-speed broadband service, the 1 Gbps service is more than ten times as fast as the median download speed advertised in the United States.²³ Nextlight’s conditions of service are also notably fair. All connections from NextLight are symmetrical, meaning they advertise identical download and upload speeds, rather than faster download speeds with lagging upload speeds, as commonly seen in plans offered by major ISPs. Nextlight’s plans are also offered without contracts or data caps, which removes the data cap overage penalties and contract termination fees that often hike up the prices and fees of other ISPs’ plans.²⁴

Longmont is a city of 96,577 people in the northern stretches of the Denver metropolitan area.²⁵ The city traces the development of its municipal network to 2012, but its movement toward a 100 percent community-owned broadband service began much earlier.²⁶ In 1999, the local Platte River Power Authority funded the building of a fiber optic network to support its substations in Longmont. The network had extra capacity so that it could potentially be used to bring connectivity solutions to the community some time in the future. Despite this capacity to build a community network on the existing fiber infrastructure, in 2005, incumbent ISPs—namely what is now CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) and Comcast—lobbied the state legislature to enact a protectionist law that effectively barred municipal networks.²⁷ In 2011, Longmont residents waged a hard-fought campaign to hold a ballot referendum to exempt the city from the onerous state law. Despite aggressive efforts by Comcast, CenturyLink, and other major telecom companies to defeat the ballot measure—including an outpouring of cash towards TV and radio ads, Google search ads, and flyers—Longmont voters approved the referendum and freed the city to provide internet service.²⁸

By 2018, NextLight was one of the fastest ISPs in the country. PCMag ranked it as the fastest network in the country, besting privately-owned networks like Google Fiber, Verizon Fios, and RCN.²⁹ In 2018, an estimated 53 percent of Longmont residents were NextLight subscribers.³⁰ The network is financially sustainable and expected to pay off its bonds four years ahead of schedule, with no tax dollars used toward building the network.³¹ The network has brought significant benefits to the area. With one of the most affordable gigabit-speed internet plans in the country, it has saved its residents and businesses money and time.³² It has spurred economic development and supported events by Longmont’s entrepreneurial community.³³ The network has also shown a commitment to helping bridge the digital divide by offering free, residential broadband service reaching 25 Mbps in download and upload speed, along with a modem or wireless router, to qualifying low-income families.³⁴ Eligible families must live in Longmont in a NextLight-serviceable area, and have children in St. Vrain Valley School District who receive free or reduced lunch assistance.³⁵

NextLight’s rate for gigabit service in Longmont is also much lower than that offered by Comcast in the neighboring town of Boulder.³⁶ The network’s success has also encouraged other Colorado communities, like Aurora, Loveland, and Fort Collins, to successfully fight for their own municipal broadband networks.³⁷

Municipalities are not the only entities that can respond to their residents’ needs and create their own broadband networks; many tribal nations are also building their own networks to close the digital divide in tribal areas. Tribal nations are among the least connected communities in the country. The FCC has long recognized the profound lack of connectivity on reservations and conducted field hearings to explore the problem two decades ago.³⁸ In 2020, problems persist, as recent federal estimates put more than 27.7 percent of people living on tribal lands without broadband access, compared to 22.3 percent of those living in rural, non-tribal areas without broadband access.³⁹ A report released in 2018 by the Government Accountability Office reveals, however, that the FCC overstates broadband access in tribal lands by collecting broadband availability data rather than actual access to service data.⁴⁰ Additionally, the report reveals that tribes suffer disproportionately from lack of broadband infrastructure, as well as slower and more expensive service where there are options.⁴¹ Broadband deployment costs more on unserved tribal lands that are generally rural and may have rugged terrain, and such costs can thereby discourage private providers from deploying in such areas. With few private options, there’s a particularly strong incentive for tribal nations to develop their own networks.

For example, the Yurok Tribe built its own wireless network to serve a tribal community in a rugged stretch of the northern California coastline. YurokConnect is a wireless broadband network that covers the entirety of the Yurok Tribe Reservation, comprising a one-mile wide tract running along both sides of the Klamath River and extending for 45 miles to the Pacific Ocean. Bandwidth is distributed via wireless point-to-point, originating from a mountain top that was originally owned by the Air Force but decommissioned and acquired by the Yurok Tribe, on unlicensed “TV white space” spectrum.⁴² YurokConnect offers single-family residences service up to 800 Kbps for $40 per month, and up to 2 Mbps for $80 per month. Upload speeds reach 285 Kbps for residential accounts, and there is a $4 monthly rental fee for radio units.⁴³ Standard service connection charges are determined by network staff, but include account set up, pick up of standard home units, and remote verification of service.

Though speeds offered by YurokConnect fall well below the 25/3 Mbps in download and upload speed that the FCC defines as high-speed broadband service, the service addresses a need that has long been overlooked by commercial ISPs. The Yurok Tribe Reservation is remote and sparsely populated, as well as characterized by low median household income and limited economic opportunities.⁴⁴ The reservation’s terrain is rough, mountainous, and heavily forested, making it exceptionally difficult to build out communications infrastructure. The tribe reports that 90 percent of the reservation actually has no infrastructure, and lacks power and water in addition to telecommunications. Previously, the existing telephone and T1 services (dedicated transmission fiber optic telephone lines that carry more data than traditional telephone lines) available to the Yurok Tribe were offered by conventional wireline phone companies for approximately $650 per month to more than $1200 per month.⁴⁵ This was not only cost-prohibitive for the community, but led to roadblocks in communications for Yurok’s public safety agency, which had to share the single T1 line available.

By creating their own network, the Yurok Tribe has helped close the digital divide for its members. For the Tribe to build its own network, the federal government required it to conduct mandatory environmental surveys for building network infrastructure, as well as acquire the necessary permits from both state and federal agencies. Particularly essential was a license to run the network on white space spectrum, which the Tribe acquired with the help of the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs.⁴⁶ Using the TV white space spectrum made it possible for the tribe to install fewer towers and also reduced the amount of hardware required on the user end to connect to the network.⁴⁷ Given the reservation’s rugged terrain and scattered population, the white space spectrum license was particularly advantageous for building an efficient and cost-effective network.

YurokConnect has brought a multitude of benefits for the nearly 5,000 Tribe members who previously lacked internet access on their land.⁴⁸ The network has created better opportunities for telemedicine, distance learning, public safety, and communications infrastructure for Yurok’s fishery management and tribal government operations.⁴⁹ YurokConnect subscribers have access to material from universities in the area, including the College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University. Internet access brings opportunities for tribal members to shop at lower prices online, or sell goods to a wider market.⁵⁰ The Yurok Tribe is now also connected with the nearby Klamath Fire Station. The reliable internet connection via the network facilitates virtual training for volunteer Yurok firefighters.⁵¹

The Yurok Tribe’s broadband service and technology is also set to improve. In 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a $6.5 million grant for the Yurok and neighboring Karuk tribes to build an 82-mile fiber backbone to an existing internet hub, and then build out last-mile wireless connections to around 814 homes and businesses throughout the land.⁵² In 2018, the California state government deemed the environmental assessment complete, and the joint Klamath River Rural Broadband Initiative is awaiting approval from the California Advanced Services Fund on the initiative’s additional requests for funding to expand the project.⁵³ With increased funding, the two tribes can achieve economies of scale to serve both tribes and their surrounding neighbors.⁵⁴ The proposed project would open up broadband service for health clinics, tribal offices, and businesses. It would also provide broadband access to the two schools on the reservation that is comparable to service found in urban areas in other parts of the country.⁵⁵

Community broadband networks have much potential to bring high-speed internet and greater prosperity to unserved and underserved communities. Given the successes seen in the towns of Fairlawn and Longmont, as well as in the Yurok Tribe, local communities should feel empowered to invest in their own social and economic success through the establishment of a community-owned network.

*Corrected 2:15pm on July 14, 2020: A previous version of this report erroneously stated that "In 2020, problems persist, as recent federal estimates put more than 90 million people on tribal lands without internet, compared to 11 million residents in rural, non-tribal areas." This has been changed to "In 2020, problems persist, as recent federal estimates put more than 27.7 percent of people living on tribal lands without broadband access, compared to 22.3 percent of those living in rural, non-tribal areas without broadband access." We regret this error.