Ownership remains the key advantage. Unlike earlier telecom providers that leased infrastructure or delivered service wirelessly, WJBTN owns the backbone fiber, the right-of-way, and the poles carrying the network. That makes it far harder for outside telecom companies to displace the service...

Fundamentally, it’s about sovereignty. By controlling the infrastructure that carries internet traffic, the communities can govern and maintain the network according to their own priorities rather than the financial goals of distant providers.

This is huge, what an incredible advantage to hold in a tech world that's so consistently enshittifying. I'm so stoked for them.

Then, in a turn of events that rocked the communities, lead engineer Dirk MacLeod had a heart attack and died in July 2019. “My chest was ripped open,” Nakogee says. The grieving company shut down for the summer.

After MacLeod’s death, one line worker quietly took it upon himself to finish extending fiber to distribution points in Fort Albany

Their resilience in the wake of this is outstanding too. A passion-project like this might have easily gone to the vultures, if not for the way northern communities rally.