Live in city council district 3 or 4? Ask your city council candidates if they support a public broadband option for every Portlander!
Portland is an island of expensive, privately owned internet service infrastructure. Hillsboro, Sherwood, and Sandy all have publicly owned, affordable fast fiber optic networks available to households and businesses.
Did you know the City of Portland owns and operates a fiber-optic broadband network? The network is called IRNE – Integrated Regional Network Enterprise and was created under Mayor Vera Katz’s leadership on May 24, 2000 with Portland City Council Resolution 35888.
There is no transparent, actionable plan to treat our City of Portland owned fiber optic infrastructure as a publicly available utility used for the public good.
OUR MISSION is for every Portlander to have access to fast, affordable, publicly owned internet service infrastructure. Our current campaign goal is to direct our elected officials to build a publicly owned, universally available, fast, and affordable internet service infrastructure for every Portlander.
IRNE Net has existed for 25 years. Yet Portlanders are forced to use profit-driven private ISPs for internet service. Too many in our city struggle to afford fast internet service in their homes, and small businesses.
What We Want
We want the City of Portland to create a Publicly Owned Open Access Broadband Network available to every Portland resident, business, and institution.
We want a Dig Once Dig Smart policy. Every time the city opens the street, sidewalk, or other right of ways, we want publicly owned fiber optic conduit installed.
We want Public $$$$ To Mean Public Ownership every time the city offers development funding to private entities using public money including grants, tax incentives, tax deferments, or creates new tax increment financing districts we want publicly owned, open access broadband infrastructure included in the new development.
Let’s Make This Happen
We call on our new city council to make publicly owned broadband infrastructure part of every plan.
Join us by attending our monthly coordinating meetings to learn more about our campaign for publicly owned broadband infrastructure here in PDX. Can’t give time?
Donate to help our 100% volunteer run organization make publicly owned and transparently operated internet access happen here in Portland.
