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 inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Bridging the digital divide will accelerate learning and economic growth

Colorado’s regional collaboration efforts to increase statewide access to broadband internet have been touted in comparison to other states looking to solve this issue. The completion of the 481-mile rural Project Thor broadband network in April is a momentous step toward meeting the increased demand for better access and affordability, as well as reliability, 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 […]