On Thursday, Dec. 16, the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) appointed Brandy Reitter as Executive Director to lead the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO) in the midst of historic funding opportunities that have the potential to bring reliable broadband to every community across the state. OIT Deputy Executive Director Julia Richman will continue to lead the CBO until Reitter joins the state in February 2022.
The November Lunch & Learn webinar featured Tim Miles, Technology Director for Steamboat and South Routt Schools. He discussed how Steamboat Schools has become involved in three broadband consortia to better internet connectivity for itself, its close neighbors, others on the broadband path, and its peers throughout Colorado. Tim talked about the three consortia:
The October Lunch & Learn featured Corey Bryndal from Region 10. Region 10 leverages resources to help build strong communities, and in this session we learned how they advance connectivity for Delta, Montrose, Hinsdale, Gunnison, Ouray and San Miguel counties through senior services, small-business services and regional development support. The Region 10 broadband project encompasses over 600 miles of fiber and 16 carrier-neutral locations.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) was provided $5,000,000 in American Rescue Plan funds during the last Colorado legislative session under HB21-1289. While waiting for federal guidance on provisions related to use of these funds, DOLA would like to gauge interest from government entities across the state. If you represent a local or regional government, please fill out the Broadband Middle Mile Interconnectivity Interest Survey.
The September Lunch & Learn webinar featured Josh Cramer, Network Architect for Trailblazer Broadband in Estes Park. He shared Estes Park's story of starting up a municipal broadband utility from scratch, establishing a multi-municipality wide area network in the Front Range, and maintaining upstream connectivity in a mountain town through a variety of natural disasters.
The August Lunch & Learn webinar featured Bob Fifer from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) with an update about the work CDOT is doing around the state to support broadband infrastructure.
Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the award of a $10.5 million grant to Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network in rural Colorado. The funded service area includes 2,410 households, 6,877 people, three educational facilities, 89 businesses and 115 farms spread over 126 square miles.
Read the USDA Press Release
On July 19, the Broadband Advisory Board announced the release of its inaugural annual report, highlighting its first six months and priorities for the year ahead as it works to bring fast, reliable and affordable broadband service to all Coloradans.
The CBO had a monumental legislative year! Three major pieces of legislation will impact the structure and funding of broadband support from the state—HB21-1109, HB21-1289 and SB21-060—and a few additional bills had components that touch on broadband. Full details on each bill can be found here.
Outreach for our fall data collection cycle has begun! The data submission deadline is September 3, 2021. Please contact us to verify your company’s point of contact to ensure your company participates in our data collection.
What's new this year?
Our process remains the same, however the recently passed HB21-1109 changes the participation and data granularity requirements.