Beginning Community Internet Networks in the U.S.

Notes on the beginning of Community Internet projects in the U.S.

We began the RAIN Community Internet project with the goal of expanding on what had been accomplished in many communities through the setup of “”Community BBS” systems.

In the old days, before the Internet became a public resource, the BBS systems represented a way to get Health, Education, local church and government information and special projects online and accessible by folks in the community with a computer and modem. I always recommend spending a bit of time learning about the BBS efforts of the 1980's that came just before the Internet.

In 1991 we began RAIN Network with the same goal as a Community BBS. Local government, health, school and life long learning resources that could be accessed by anyone in the community with a computer and modem. Our first line was a 56k frame relay line we leased from Cerf Net. It was the same bandwidth the University of California at Santa Barbara was using and so we chose that as the start point for the RAIN public Internet project. Ultimately it led to RAIN's National Public Internet and to our Telemedicine and Rural Development Networks.