Colorado Broadband Deployment Board Awards $22.8 Million in Grants to Connect Homes to High-Speed Internet

Colorado’s Broadband Deployment Board (BDB), which operates under the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO), has awarded more than $22.8 million to 15 broadband projects that will connect 4,267 additional households to high-speed internet. This is the most funding awarded during a BDB grant cycle in the board’s eight-year history, and it moves the state closer to achieving its goal of connecting 99 percent of Colorado households to fast, reliable broadband by 2027. Of the 15 broadband projects awarded grants, 10 will be funded by the State and Local Federal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which is dedicated to helping states recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2021 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly approved and Gov Polis (D-CO) signed bipartisan legislation to direct $35 million in SLFRF funding to the BDB for broadband expansion, part of which was awarded earlier in 2022. The BDB also awarded five additional grants through a state broadband fund called the High-Cost Support Mechanism.