A series of studies of rural Florida community anchor institutions have concluded that existing national measurement practices for broadband penetration, adoption, and impact are often poorly defined, confusing, or inadequate to inform decisions about community broadband deployment and adoption. As a result, local broadband initiatives may be hindered by “measurement confusion.” This article proposes the Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) with a number of broadband readiness criteria and the Community-Based Broadband Planning, Adoption, and Deployment model (CBBP) to address this confusion and position local officials to better coordinate, deploy, and use broadband locally; demonstrate how improved high-speed broadband affects their communities over time; and sustain planning for continuous improvements of community broadband use.