Broadband is booming in Colorado as voters lift limits on government’s involvement

Nearly 15 years after the first Colorado community opted out of a state law prohibiting local governments from providing or investing in broadband internet service, 121 cities and towns in the state have followed suit, including four more communities in the November 2022 election. The result is the installation of hundreds of miles of new fiber-optic lines throughout the state, from tiny Wray near the Kansas border to even smaller Mountain Village near Telluride — and dozens of communities in between. The big pipes delivering data to homes and businesses mean an increasing number of Coloradans are now receiving gigabit-speed internet service. Internet service from CenturyLink and Comcast, the two biggest players in the state, didn’t always hold up during the pandemic.