  We develop an information-theoretic view of the stochastic block model, a
popular statistical model for the large-scale structure of complex networks. A
graph $G$ from such a model is generated by first assigning vertex labels at
random from a finite alphabet, and then connecting vertices with edge
probabilities depending on the labels of the endpoints. In the case of the
symmetric two-group model, we establish an explicit `single-letter'
characterization of the per-vertex mutual information between the vertex labels
and the graph.
  The explicit expression of the mutual information is intimately related to
estimation-theoretic quantities, and --in particular-- reveals a phase
transition at the critical point for community detection. Below the critical
point the per-vertex mutual information is asymptotically the same as if edges
were independent. Correspondingly, no algorithm can estimate the partition
better than random guessing. Conversely, above the threshold, the per-vertex
mutual information is strictly smaller than the independent-edges upper bound.
In this regime there exists a procedure that estimates the vertex labels better
than random guessing.
