Community Internet - High-speed Internet access is fast becoming a basic public necessity - just like water, gas or electricity. But far too many Americans are finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, unable to get connected or afford expensive commercial service.

Community Internet is the answer.

Soon, all media - TV, telephone, radio, and the Web - will be delivered via the Internet over a broadband connection. New wireless and wired technologies allow local governments, public-private partnerships, schools and community groups to offer faster, cheaper and more reliable Internet service. Hundreds of Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprouted up across the country.

The major barrier to establishing Community Internet is not technological or economic. It’s political.

The big telephone and cable companies are using their lobbying clout in Washington and the state capitals to outlaw municipal broadband systems, prevent competition and undercut local control.

Decisions being made right now by Congress, at the Federal Communications Commission, and in state legislatures will shape the future of communications for a generation. Read about the polies and pending legislation that could affect Community Internet.