Guifi Net is a network of telecommunication, that is build and organized by its users.

It started in 2004 as a spontanious iniciative of citizens in rural areas without internet access, and grew quickly over Catalunya.

The network of Guifi Net is spread both in the cities and on the countryside. There are more than 35.000 active nodes, connected by fiber optics or by Wi Fi radio signal.

Anyone can join the network, as long as the governance rules are followed. Guifi Net has around 100.000 users.

Xavi is CEO of TICAE, a company that uses the infrastructure of Guifi Net to provide Internet services to companies and households.

He believes that when an Internet infrastructure is organized as a commons, it gives more quality, flexibility, transparency and democracy. His business model makes evident that private companies and commons can make healthy partnerships.

Guifi Net is managed in the same way as the commons were governed in rural societies, but applied to the digital age.

Clara, member of the coordination team of Guifi Net, stresses that, because nobody owns the whole network, the neutrality and transparency are better guaranteed.