The story
CBN was launched in the United Kingdom during January 2004 by the then Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael and Broadband Minister Stephen Timms; at this time the UK was lagging behind neighboring developed countries in the provision of first generation broadband services, leaving significant holes in availability. Many of these "notspots" were in rural areas or were the focus of economic regeneration programmes; local community organizations were beginning to develop their own services typically using Wi-Fi wireless technology but often without specialist telecommunications knowledge within their groups. CBN was founded as a co-operative of such groups, able to provide support and specialist skills to its members; during 2004-5 CBN supported over 100 local broadband projects with direct consultancy and mentoring, and provided online information and support for a further 200.
From Wikipedia’s article on Community Broadband Network, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4