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 […]
Project Thor
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, News, Technology
Colorado will miss its goal to hit 92% broadband coverage in rural areas by June
The state’s goal to get 92% of rural Colorado connected to decent broadband by June will miss the mark. No single factor was to blame — and it had nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic. But an overall reason is that determining the figure is a crapshoot. “There’s no place for us to go […]
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
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 […]