This is not your father’s broadband conference.
It’s CNCon in Seattle, an inaugural gathering for those running community networks or looking to start connecting people the big monopoly providers have left digitally disconnected.
Registration for the November 20 in-person event — Community Networks Conference (CNCon) 2026 — is now open here.
Hosted by the Seattle Community Network and Local Connectivity Lab, conference organizer Esther Jang tells ILSR the gathering will be geared for community network operators to geek out, “share, learn from each other, and build together,” adding that they are also putting out the call to community network aficionados who have closed shop and can talk candidly about why, and what went wrong.
“Building community-based networks is rewarding but incredibly challenging, and we want to create a support network for these groups to work together and strategize towards common goals,” Jang said.
Big Tent Approach
“For this first conference, we are taking a big tent approach,” Jang says. “We want to be inclusive of folks with broadband projects as well as those who are operating emergency or disaster resilience networks, to see what we might all have in common.”
Attendees will explore tradeoffs in network operations — fun vs need vs profit — and address differences between working with fiber, fixed wireless, mesh, and Long Range Radio (LoRa) Internet access technologies.
The conference will also examine various business models, including municipally-owned systems, private independent ventures, and nonprofit initiatives — with the idea that a rural cooperative deploying fiber, a neighborhood group maintaining a volunteer-run mesh network, a Tribal network aiming for digital sovereignty, and a city-owned utility face different challenges, but have plenty to learn from each other about funding, governance, technology choices, and operating for the long run.
Local Focus, Global Reach
While the in-person conference will focus mostly on deploying networks in the U.S, Jang said there will be a virtual track centering perspectives from community network builders in other countries.
“Some of the most successful and impactful community networks projects around the world are international, especially in rural areas where other service providers don’t exist,” she said.
With that in mind, Jang said, virtual speakers will include community network operators from Ghana, Mexico, India, Argentina, and Germany, and will aim to accommodate diverse time zones according to interest among registrants.
If you work for or with a community network and want to attend or present, please submit a session proposal to the conference website using the link under the “Program” tab, or reach out to [email protected] for more information.
“We’d love to get you involved!,” Jang said.
Header image of Esther Jang on Seattle rooftop courtesy of Esther Jang
