Up to Speed? Time, money, maps and the push for 100% broadband in rural Colorado

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 doesn’t. His hands are tied by how broadband services are regulated in this country. “There is a big debate that I think needs to go on nationally at the federal level of whether or not you want to regulate broadband access as being a utility,” he said. “Because that’s how we got phone service to everybody. It was regulated. This isn’t.” With that in mind, the main role the broadband office plays is working with service providers in rural areas. Neal-Graves and his team encourage providers to apply for federal grants, provide them with data and write letters of support to back their funding requests.