$171 million grant will fund high-speed internet in Colorado

The Colorado Broadband Office plans to spend $171 million to connect more households with high-speed internet next year.

The money comes from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund and will be used to connect 18,000 unserved households with reliable internet, fund fiber infrastructure projects to prepare for future internet needs and support Colorado communities with the most urgent broadband needs, Gov. Jared Polis’ office announced last week.

This money and future federal broadband funding will be administered to subgrantee recipients through the Advance Colorado Broadband grant program in 2023.

It’s not clear yet how much money might make its way to Longmont and the city-managed NextLight, which has been nationally recognized for its speed, affordability and quality.

“It’s exciting to see Colorado and the nation continue to recognize the importance of fiber-fast internet, affirming what Longmont has known for years: that reliable high-speed internet service is vital for everyone,” said Scott Rochat, public relations and marketing specialist for Longmont Power.

According to the release from Polis’ office, of the approximately three million serviceable locations in Colorado, 14% or 360,000 places are unserved or underserved with internet services not reaching the federal standards of 25 MBPS download/3 MBPS upload.

“Many residents still have either no access or very poor access to the internet and are potentially missing out on opportunities for work, school, to run successful businesses or have access to the healthcare and government services they need to thrive,” Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Brandy Reitter said in a statement. “This is the next big step in our plan to build broadband infrastructure across the state and help those residents in their communities.”

All recipients of this federal money will be required to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps eligible Colorado households afford high-speed internet by providing a discount of up to $30 per month or $75 a month on Tribal lands.

“We’re continually looking for opportunities to fund expansion of NextLight so that even more people can reap the benefits of being connected to one of the fastest networks in the country,” Rochat said. “As this develops further, we’ll watch with interest to see how best we can serve our community.”