Already lots of advice, but I'll chime in too. Telcos are actually a few parts -- there is Voice, which can be landlines or cellular, there is Data which is us

Already lots of advice, but I'll chime in too. Telcos are actually a few parts -- there is Voice, which can be landlines or cellular, there is Data which is usually Internet but can be leased lines. Modern networks do allow a lot of overlap with these, but each of them have some bits that are very specialized and need equipment/people. VoIP and Internet is a decent place to start. The "core" is fairly easy to do, the harder part is the "last mile". Provinces and Municipalities usually charge to allow you to use their poles or right of ways. The most interesting idea I've heard is building a non-profit last mile with the help of your municipality. At one point Toronto Hydro had an extensive fiber network, and it would have been easy to do; but I think the city sold off Hydro and Hydro in turn sold off their fiber network. I've also heard of getting a neighborhood together to buy a commercial tier connection, and then distributing it, but there are some details that need to be worked out to make sure this is workable.