Joe Rubino

When it comes to being able to connect to high-speed internet in rural Colorado, “universal service” is still an aspiration, not a reality. With upward of 600,000 rural households in the state, an 87% service rate means somewhere in the range of 80,000 to 90,000 households are living with subpar internet, according to state officials’ estimates. Tony Neal-Graves, executive director of the state’s broadband office, knows there are plenty of barriers to reaching the state's goal of 92% rural access by June 2020, starting with collecting reliable information about who has broadband and who doe