Colorado Innovation Council Seeks to Make Good on State's Promise of Better Broadband

The state of Colorado likes to see itself as an emerging technology hub. The Rocky Mountain state, which is currently hosting the Democratic National Convention in Denver, placed ninth in a recent "New Economy Index" that sought to benchmark indices of a knowledge-based economy. Many of the leading players in the cable and satellite industries hail from the state, which is home to its industry technology consortium CableLabs. Reinforced by its winter skiing and its cool summers, the state's high quality of life makes it a natural locale for many of industry-leading telecommunications conferences by the Aspen Institute, the Progress and Freedom Foundation, and Silicon Flatirons. If there is a dark cloud on the future of Colorado's technological progress, however, it is the limitation of rural broadband access. The same report that said Colorado was ninth for its tech economy ranked it 21st among states for its broadband telecommunications. (It was published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation.) Another report, published in December 2005 by Broadband Properties Magazine, put Colorado in 20th place in broadband deployment, behind rural neighbors Nebraska and Kansas. State officials now say they are determined to do something about these low broadband rankings.