[1st-mile-nm] Colorado Gov. Touts Increase in Rural Broadband Access

[Richard Lowenberg]

Colorado Gov. Touts Increase in Rural Broadband Access

The state wants 100 percent of households to have access to high-speed 
Internet, and toward that end it will put $155 million toward rural 
broadband expansion projects during the next five years.

BY NEWS STAFF / MAY 14, 2019
https://www.govtech.com/network/Colorado-Gov-Touts-Increase-in-Rural-Broadband-Access.html

Leaders in Colorado have whittled down the rural Internet access gap to 
6 percentage points, according to the governor's office, with a goal of 
providing broadband Internet access to 92 percent of rural residents by 
June 2020.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ office announced Tuesday that rural coverage 
for high-speed broadband rose by 3 percent, a jump from 83 percent to 86 
percent from October 2018 to April 2019.

Gov. Polis said high-speed Internet is now a necessity for people to 
thrive.

  “Affordable and reliable broadband is critical to educating our youth, 
providing quality health care and keeping our residents safe,” he said 
in a statement.

A report released in March by the Federal Communications Commission 
stated 92 percent of Americans have access to high-speed Internet. 
However, companies like Microsoft and Pew Research found the number of 
people with access did not correlate to the number of Americans using 
broadband. Microsoft found that about 49 percent of people in the U.S. 
used high-speed Internet at home, while the Pew Research study estimated 
65 percent.

The 3 percent increase in Colorado is due to completed expansion 
projects, which were primarily funded by the Department of Regulatory 
Agencies Broadband Fund grants and five years’ worth of investments by 
the Department of Local Affairs Broadband Grant program, according to 
the release.

Going forward, Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Anthony 
Neal-Graves said the state will be investing $115 million during the 
next five years to grow the short-term goal of 92 percent rural access 
to 100 percent. Neal-Graves’ office coordinates and supports endeavors 
that will help the state provide universal broadband access.

“We are moving in the right direction to reach the June 2020 goal of 
providing 92 percent rural broadband access,” Neal-Graves said in a 
statement.



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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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