An electric cooperative or municipal network can run door-to-door fiber sales the same way it runs any contracted field work: a badged crew working under the fiber subsidiary's name, a board-approved conduct code, and one fee per activated subscriber. Knoqly supplies that sales team for member-owned and public networks, and the co-op or city keeps the plan, the price, and the member relationship.
The partner stack stops at the residential door
Co-op fiber builds run on a partner stack. Conexon alone lists 300+ electric co-ops in 24 states and nine services on its home page: Feasibility Study, Funding, Design, Construction Services, Field Services, Marketing, Support, Voice and Regulatory, and Commercial Sales (Conexon). The four pages closest to a subscriber:
| Conexon service | What the page covers | Residential door |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Graphic design, website design and hosting, branding, campaign execution, social media management, a lead generation tool | No (Conexon, Marketing) |
| Field Services | Data collection, make-ready engineering, damage assessment, permit management | No (Conexon, Field Services) |
| Commercial Sales | In-house team calling on businesses in the co-op's territory by cold call, D2D, and business mailer; commercial accounts only | No (Conexon, Commercial Sales) |
| RURALBAND marketing program (Prince George Electric Cooperative) | Print media, social media, community engagement plans, a broadband living room demonstration | No (Conexon, RURALBAND) |
The RURALBAND case study quotes the co-op: it has to be a face-to-face conversation. That network's stats box shows a 44% take rate (undated); the July 2023 case study text says over 40%. None of the pages above describes a residential rep at one address, paid only when that address activates. That is what Knoqly adds, alongside the partners already on the build; what a contracted crew does and costs covers the general model.
Member-trust rules
A co-op's edge over the median ISP is trust. The 2025 NRECA and NRTC survey of 78 co-ops in 29 states measured it (Light Reading):
88
Average net promoter score of surveyed co-op broadband providers, against a median US ISP score of minus 3
Source: Light Reading, NRECA and NRTC survey, June 2025A rep on a member's porch is spending that trust, so the sales contract fixes three rules before the first knock:
- Reps badge as the fiber subsidiary. OEC Fiber introduces itself as the subsidiary of a cooperative wholly owned by its membership (OEC Fiber). Reps carry that name on badge and shirt.
- A member-relations script, approved by member services. Written in the co-op's own words (member, capital credits, the subsidiary's name), stating the price, the install window, and what subscribing does or does not change about the electric account.
- A board-approved conduct code. Knocking hours, a no-return rule for households that decline, electric-bill questions referred to the office, and an escalation path from a member complaint to the co-op's communications lead, on the co-op's timeline. The board reviews the code before deployment.
Members first, then non-members
Bill inserts, the annual meeting, and the newsletter reach every member for the cost of an insert in a bill that already goes out. They reach nobody outside the membership, and 63% of surveyed co-ops have built or are building to non-member areas (Light Reading). A non-member household has never received a co-op bill and sees the fiber subsidiary as one more ISP. That is where a knock does the work an insert cannot.
| Network | Non-member growth | Source |
|---|---|---|
| OEC Fiber (Oklahoma Electric Cooperative) | Non-members are nearly one-third of subscribers; 44,422 subscribers on 55,000 members | Conexon |
| United Fiber (United Electric Cooperative, Missouri) | 44,748 subscribers on 7,600 members after building into denser areas beyond its territory | Conexon |
| Bolt Broadband (Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative) | Out-of-territory residents are 10% of subscribers; 19,123 subscribers on 41,985 members | Conexon |
| 78 surveyed co-ops, 2025 | 63% built or building to non-member areas | Light Reading |
For a municipal network the line runs at the city limits. BroadbandNow counted 16 states with laws hindering municipal broadband as of May 2024, some restricting service to inside municipal boundaries (BroadbandNow). Where growth past the line is allowed, those households never voted on the bond and need the same doorstep explanation a non-member does.
Take rates co-ops and munis report
Every figure below belongs to the operator or study named beside it; none is a Knoqly result. The table by months since launch is in fiber take rate benchmarks by year.
| Network or study | Take rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Electric co-ops with networks in operation 5+ years (NRECA and NRTC survey, 78 co-ops, 29 states) | Nearly 50% to 52% | Light Reading, June 2025 |
| OEC Fiber | 43% overall; 60% in some areas | Conexon |
| Bolt Broadband | 61% | Conexon |
| United Fiber | 46% | Conexon |
| Retail municipal systems after 1 to 4 years (2008 study) | 54% average | FTTH Council via communitynetworks.org |
| Longmont NextLight (municipal), broke ground 2014, figure from March 2025 | About two-thirds of premises passed | communitynetworks.org, March 2025 |
| Pulse Fiber, Loveland, Colorado (municipal), residential plan | 32% to break even; 42% expected | Pulse Fiber, October 2020 |
Two reads for a board. The survey's range for networks in operation over five years is nearly 50% to 52%; the co-ops in the table sit between 43% and 61%, so a network at 30% in year three has room. And Pulse Fiber's 32% break-even is a line a public entity publishes and a private ISP keeps internal: after full buildout, every month under it is debt service paid from something other than subscriber revenue [inference]. The fiber take rate calculator takes your serviceable addresses, current penetration, and revenue per subscriber and charts four years of penetration, revenue, and cumulative acquisition spend for door-to-door beside your other channels.
Public-entity constraints
- Procurement. A public utility buys through a published RFP, a scoring sheet, and a council or board vote; a co-op subsidiary usually follows its parent's purchasing policy. Plan on 60 to 120 days from RFP release to a signed agreement [estimate], and on the proposal becoming a public record. The RFP template for outsourced door-to-door fiber sales has the six sections and a scoring sheet.
- State law. BroadbandNow's 16 states include referendum requirements, service-area limits, and financing restrictions (BroadbandNow). Where voter approval or a feasibility filing is required, the sales plan waits on it.
- The ordinance you wrote. A city that owns a fiber network also wrote its door-to-door solicitation ordinance. The muni's crew registers, badges, and stops at the hours it sets, the same as a private ISP's crew. Permits, CPNI, and badges covers the mechanics.
- Public numbers. Knoqly reports each sale by service address and invoices only after the network confirms activation, so the number the board sees is the number the billing system shows.
What a deployment looks like
One fee per activated subscriber, agreed in writing per market, chargebacks for cancellations inside an agreed window, no monthly minimum. Knoqly recruits, vets, trains on your offer with your member-services team, and manages the reps; the co-op or city sets the conduct code and the script. In one 1,317-address fiber market, penetration went from 2.43% to 19.74% in 14 days, 228 new subscribers [Knoqly deployment data]. How an engagement works walks the five stages; a discovery call sizes a crew for your build.
Can an electric co-op use door-to-door sales for its fiber subsidiary?
Yes. The subsidiary contracts the crew the same way it contracts construction or marketing: reps badge as the subsidiary, the board approves the conduct code, and the subsidiary pays only for activated subscribers. Where bylaws or state law limit service to members or to a territory, the crew's address list follows the same limit.
How do electric cooperatives sell fiber internet subscriptions?
To members, through channels they already own [field experience]: bill inserts, the newsletter, the annual meeting, and pre-registration drives, plus the design-build partner's print, social media, and community engagement program. Door-to-door adds coverage of every serviceable address, including the non-member areas that 63% of surveyed co-ops are building into.
What take rate do electric co-op fiber networks reach?
The 2025 NRECA and NRTC survey put networks in operation over five years at nearly 50% to 52%. Individual co-ops publish figures above and below that: 43% overall and 60% in some areas at OEC Fiber, 61% at Bolt Broadband, 46% at United Fiber, each as the source defines the rate.
Can a municipal broadband network hire a door-to-door sales vendor?
Yes, through its normal procurement: an RFP, a scoring sheet, and a council or utility board vote, subject to any state law on municipal broadband (16 states had restrictive laws as of May 2024). The crew then registers under the city's own solicitation ordinance like any other vendor.
Should an electric cooperative build its own fiber sales team or contract one?
The deciding variable is how long the subsidiary needs reps at doors. A co-op that will keep selling across its territory for years can carry a W-2 team with a manager on payroll; one that needs coverage while a build fills, then a ramp-down, pays per activation and releases the crew when the zone is sold. The fully loaded cost of a 10-seat in-house team against the per-activation alternative is worked in in-house versus outsourced door-to-door sales.
Sources
- Conexon, home page Nine services as listed on the page: Feasibility Study, Funding, Design, Construction Services, Field Services, Marketing, Support, Voice and Regulatory, Commercial Sales; 300+ co-ops in 24 states.
- Conexon, Marketing Graphic design, website design and hosting, branding, campaign execution and measurement, social media management, video, a lead generation tool; no door-to-door or in-person outreach.
- Conexon, Field Services Data collection, make-ready engineering, damage assessment, permit management, hourly rate services.
- Conexon, Commercial Sales In-house commercial sales team calling on businesses in each cooperative's territory; lists cold calls, D2D sales, and business mailers among lead-generation methods. Commercial accounts only.
- Conexon, OEC Fiber client success (January 2023) 44,422 subscribers on 55,000 members; 43% take rate, 60% in some areas; non-members nearly one-third of the base.
- Conexon, United Fiber client success (January 2020) 7,600 members, 44,748 fiber subscribers, 46% take rate; build into denser areas beyond territory.
- Conexon, Bolt Broadband client success (undated) Out-of-territory residents 10% of subscribers; 61% take rate; 19,123 subscribers on 41,985 members.
- Conexon, RURALBAND Fiber Internet client success (July 2023) Take rate below 30% in most open zones before the marketing program; over 40% in the July 2023 text; 44% in the undated stats box. Tactics: print media, social media, community engagement plans, a broadband living room demonstration.
- OEC Fiber, home page Describes itself as the subsidiary of a cooperative wholly owned and operated by its membership.
- Light Reading, How electric co-ops are impacting the broadband landscape (June 25, 2025) 78 co-ops in 29 states: take rates range between nearly 50% to 52% on networks in operation over five years; NPS 88 against median ISP minus 3; 63% built or building to non-member areas.
- FTTH Council via communitynetworks.org, Municipal Fiber to the Home Deployments (April 9, 2008) Retail municipal systems averaged 54% take rate after 1 to 4 years.
- communitynetworks.org, Longmont NextLight hits 28,000 subscriber milestone (March 7, 2025) Serves about two-thirds of the premises it passes; broke ground 2014.
- Pulse Fiber (City of Loveland, CO), Pulse Take Rate: Progress towards the ultimate goal (October 21, 2020) Residential break-even 32% after full buildout and after the payback period; expected 42%; business 27%.
- BroadbandNow, Municipal Broadband Roadblocks (May 14, 2024) 16 states; referendum requirements, bans, service-area limits, financing restrictions.