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 […]
municipal broadband
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Education, News
Students disappeared from classes when they lost internet. A rural Colorado school district’s creativity got them back online.
Marsha Cody calls it a “Christmas miracle.” Two days before Christmas, she got a call from Ciello, one of the local internet providers in the San Luis Valley. As the interim superintendent of the Alamosa School District, Cody was stumped about what to do as several students seemed to disappear each week. They no longer […]
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, Education, News, Politics and Government, Technology
Little-known internet network plans Western Colorado expansion to link students, nonprofits to supercomputers
The text-heavy website looks like it’s stuck in the 1990s. But peering past the Front Range GigaPop’s pages full of Times New Roman font and blue underlined links, you’ll understand what the fuss is about. The broadband network, long exclusive to universities and federal research labs, offers unthinkably fast speeds and access to the brightest […]
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, News, Technology
Rural Colorado sees more broadband options coming online. But getting up to speed is taking longer than anticipated in some areas.
A rush of broadband service is moving into the outskirts of the state, where internet faster than 10 mbps seems scarcer than the number of people who live there. Ting Internet, already rolling out gigabit service to residents in the city of Centennial, acquired a Durango-based internet provider last month and just announced it will […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Here’s a roundup of the most important 2019 local election results in Colorado
Coloradans decided on two major statewide ballot measures on Tuesday, but they also made key choices in a number of local races that will shape the state for years to come. From the Aurora mayoral contest to a big Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights question in Jefferson County and the future of oil and gas drilling […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government, Technology
“The cruel irony of the digital divide” in Colorado: Urban poor are left behind even as access, technology improves
When money is tight, Elysia Lucero has to make a choice: Pay the internet bill or buy food for her family. She bought food last month. On Wednesday, she stopped by the PCs for People store on West Alameda Avenue to take care of the unpaid internet bill. “We can’t live without the internet,” said […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Technology
As Colorado nears 100% broadband access, funds for rural support shrink
San Antonio is a very small, rural community in the San Luis Valley. It’s about 5 miles south of Antonito, near the New Mexico border. It’s also in a low valley with trees that block reception from wireless broadband service offered in other parts of Conejos County. But as early as next March, the community […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
Centennial just became Colorado’s largest city to launch an alternative broadband service. What about the other 100+ that voted to control their internet destiny?
Updated on Nov. 7, 2018: Nearly 20 more cities, counties and municipalities voted to opt out of the broadband law. See a complete list in the chart at the bottom of this story. Ting Internet turned on gigabit broadband service to its first customers in Centennial last week. A ceremony was held in the front […]