Sparking a Community Broadband Revolution

In many places across the country, broadband communications provider, Sparklight, has a monopoly in rural towns where they price gouge their customers and deliver poor service. It has significantly expanded its presence across the U.S. through acquisitions and investments in broadband companies in recent years, and East Carroll Parrish leaders Wanda Manning and Laura Arvin have experienced the consequences of this consolidation firsthand. The two journey through their experience fending off Sparklight in their small Southern town, building a task force to create a fiber-to-the-home network so historically marginalized populations could have fast and affordable Internet access, addressing the challenges faced by communities left out of the digital landscape. For additional resources see: https://ilsr.org/building-local-power/