$826M will connect Coloradans with high-speed internet, including La Plata County (2024)

Projects could start early next year

While 91% of locations across Colorado have broadband – high-speed internet defined by a certain threshold by the Federal Communications Commission – the service is available at only 74% of locations in La Plata, according to data from the Colorado Broadband Office.

Newly approved funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will kick-start new projects across the state to change that.

The funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment or BEAD program, which includes over $826 million to be used across Colorado. Launched under the NTIA with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act in November 2021, the BEAD program requires states to submit action plans and proposals detailing locations and projects to provide broadband access to rural and tribal communities.

The funding builds on several other ongoing projects, including over $70 million in grants to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, to expand broadband access.

Timeline and impact on La Plata County

A map of BEAD-eligible sites from January shows eligible sites across Southwest Colorado, including areas on the Florida Mesa, around Oxford, Ignacio, Tiffany and on the Southern Ute Reservation. The sites were chosen because they either didn’t have broadband access or they didn’t have internet access at all. Other sites marked on the map as not having internet access are to be included in other projects to expand access, according to La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka.

The Colorado Broadband Office has begun narrowing locations through a challenge process to determine which internet service providers can provide service and which specific sites need funding. The office aims to announce results from that process in July before counties and internet service providers begin applying for funding their specific locations.

Salka, who also sits on the Advance Consult Group with the Colorado Broadband Office and is a member of the Southwest Broadband Task Force for Region 9, said he hopes the funding will help the county reach Gov. Jared Polis’ goal of providing broadband access to 99% of homes by 2027.

In these roles, Salka meets with other Region 9 Economic Development District counties and tribes weekly and internet service providers monthly to “make sure we're all on the same page to work on expanding broadband access.” He also helps ensure applications for funding are submitted on time and writes letters of support to improve an application’s chance of receiving funding.

Those actions, he said, aim to make La Plata County and Region 9 priorities “the most attractive project so we can receive as much funding as possible from (the) $826 million.”

After the Colorado Broadband Office announces funding locations in October or November, Salka anticipates the funding will begin to come in early next year to begin working on installing broadband access.

Still, he said he has some worries about reaching the 99% coverage goal since a bill he supported in the Colorado State Senate – that would have lowered fees for companies building broadband – failed in committee.

“We're going to do whatever it takes,” Salka said. “Unfortunately, we didn't get our state bill passed to help lower the costs even further along CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) highways, but for us, we have a lot of other options to be able to expand that coverage in La Plata County. And I'm very hopeful that we can still achieve that 99% of connectivity here.”

Colorado influence on the origins of the program

Back in June 2021, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, alongside Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced the legislation that would become the backbone of the BEAD program. The initial legislation, dubbed the BRIDGE Act, included over $40 billion for broadband expansion.

That legislation eventually became part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021 which established the BEAD program with over $42 million in funding.

Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper helped draft the Act, specifically serving on a working group to draft the broadband access section, which included $65 billion in funding for broadband access programs like BEAD.

“He made it a focus of the group to tackle the digital gap in communities – like rural and tribal communities – that have historically faced the greatest connectivity barriers,” the Office of Sen. Hickenlooper wrote in a statement to The Durango Herald. “Much of the BIL (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) funding Colorado has received has been directed to rural areas and tribal communities, including the 2022 grants for $23 million for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and $44 million for the Southern Ute Indian Ute Tribe.”

After the passage of the Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration – an executive branch office separate from the legislature – oversees the funding allocations and approvals, but according to Hickenlooper’s office, the senator “kept advocating for Colorado to make sure the agencies administering the programs like BEAD don’t overlook the communities that need it the most.”

Both senators welcomed last week’s announcement that Colorado’s funding had been approved.

“Affordable, high-speed broadband is essential for modern American life,” Bennet said. “Colorado helps lead the way on successful implementation of the BEAD Program, which will bridge the digital divide for communities across Colorado – especially our rural areas, low-income neighborhoods, and communities of color.”

Said Hickenlooper: “Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in high-speed and affordable broadband ever, is closing the digital divide for Tribes and small business owners in rural communities across Colorado. We’re ready to finish what we’ve started.”

Kathryn Squyres is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at ksquyres@durangoherald.com.