Posted inBusiness, News

The $30 broadband credit little used in Colorado takes effort from low-income users. Here’s how to qualify. 

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 […]

Posted inNews

FCC visits Denver to tout free internet subsidy that 80% of eligible Coloradans are ignoring

About 80% of Colorado households eligible for $30 to $75 a month to pay for internet service don’t seem to want the free benefit.  Or perhaps, they just don’t know about it. That’s why Geoffrey Starks, a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, dropped by A.B. Hirschfeld Towers in Denver on Wednesday. He wanted […]

Posted inBusiness, Equity, News, Technology

How some low-income Colorado households are getting gigabit-internet service

Federal funding to pay for internet service took off in the pandemic with programs that provided up to $50 a month to Americans who couldn’t otherwise afford a broadband connection. But even before COVID, many local internet providers had taken it upon themselves to lower the cost of broadband. There’s a push to address digital […]

Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Technology

Colorado will get at least $100 million, possibly $1 billion, from infrastructure bill to end digital divide

Colorado’s efforts to end its rural digital divide could finally happen with the $1 trillion U.S. infrastructure bill, currently awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature.  At least $100 million for broadband infrastructure will end up in Colorado, but it could be much more, said Tony Neal-Graves, chief information officer and executive director of the Colorado Office […]

Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government, Technology

Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans qualify for a $50 broadband internet credit. So why aren’t they seizing it?

A $50 credit on monthly internet service could mean the difference between having broadband and not having internet at all. But from the looks of federal data, there hasn’t been much interest in claiming the money made available by the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The program launched in May and provides low-income consumers up to […]

Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government, Technology

Colorado reaches 91% rural broadband coverage as efforts to improve internet for Ute Tribes move forward

One look at Colorado’s official broadband map and Bernadette Cuthair will tell you it’s wrong. As the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s director of planning & development, Cuthair has been working to help her community access faster internet service. But the current broadband map makes it seem like the southwestern town of Towaoc, the base for […]