A visit to Denver by a Federal Communications Commissioner this month to promote a little-used broadband discount left some households even more confused about how to actually benefit. The Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers low-income households $30 to $75 a month to offset internet costs, has been claimed by about 27% of eligible users nationwide […]
CenturyLink
Posted inBusiness, News, Technology
Can companies like SpaceX finally bring broadband to thousands of rural Coloradans?
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is coming to Colorado. Sort of. The California aerospace firm was among the winners in the $9.2 billion federal broadband auction aimed at ending the digital divide in rural America. SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., received a $39.7 million piece of Colorado’s allotment to serve more than 19,000 households or […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Technology
Subsidized broadband program speeds up, but Colorado customers must upgrade to keep discount
A national low-income broadband program will get a speed boost on Tuesday as new federal requirements go into effect for the Lifeline service. But not all Lifeline customers will automatically see the upgrade to 25 megabits per second from 20 mbps for fixed broadband service, or an increase to 11.75 gigabytes of data for wireless […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, News, Technology
Spurred by the threat of wildfires, an Estes Park broadband project moved at the speed of light
As the Cameron Peak fire burned in the distance on the morning of Oct. 17, Josh Cramer sprung into action. He worried the fire might reach Estes Park and cause a literal meltdown that could wipe out the town’s internet, emergency lines and prevent reverse 9-1-1 calls. The town needed access to backup broadband. But […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Technology
Internet service in western Colorado was so terrible that towns and counties built their own telecom
Internet outages became a distant memory this month as a good chunk of western Colorado turned on a new broadband system. But this wasn’t built by a typical telecom. It took a band of local governments and partners from 14 rural communities to stitch together the 481-mile network, dubbed “Project Thor.” Communities from Aspen to […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Technology
CenturyLink, Comcast suspend internet data cap during coronavirus crisis
This story was updated at 5:20 p.m. after Comcast announced it would also pause its data cap on internet use. CenturyLink is suspending its data cap on internet usage for customers, who are increasingly finding themselves hunkering down at home as schools temporarily close and workers move online to prevent the spread of the contagious […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government, Technology
Gov. Polis is about to sign a Colorado net neutrality bill — one with some serious teeth
Now that Democrats are in charge, Colorado’s second attempt at its own version of a net neutrality law passed the General Assembly and now heads to Gov. Jared Polis for his certain signature. Keeping internet speeds consistent regardless of whether a customer is streaming video from Comcast or Netflix wasn’t the only intent of the […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Politics and Government, Technology
Where to watch your local city council meeting and more in Colorado
Finding a city’s local government or public-access TV channel isn’t easy. Many have moved online to broadcast local government meetings live. RELATED: Federal proposal to curb franchise fees could threaten public access channels. We started keeping track of some of the cities and their public-access and government-meeting channels and thought that readers of The Colorado […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Denver is shutting down public access media when it ought to be fighting another takedown of democracy
The erosion of democracy over decades has been accompanied by transfer of wealth and power upward, and increased corporate dominance in every area, including media. Community public access media remains a rare vestige of democracy, even as its existence is threatened. Current proposed FCC policy would defund thousands of community media stations nationwide by redefining, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Content creation is changing, and public access media must evolve, too
Just like bookstores and video rental outlets, radio stations, television stations and newspapers are being forced to reinvent themselves to ensure long-term stability, the City and County of Denver is taking an innovative approach to modernize public access media. The city is ensuring that public access media remains relevant and accessible by adapting to rapidly […]