Rural Broadband

Rural Broadband

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett
Rural Broadband

The long held desire to increase the availability of broadband internet to rural parts of Colorado is looking like its gaining momentum.

In his Jan. 10 address, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis cited the need for commitments to expand the production and availability of green renewable energy and broadband access, calling it "critical infrastructure."

The Colorado Farm Bureau says it is seeing progress as it again seeks additional funding from the state to help the rollout of broadband to parts of rural Colorado that are currently not well served.

"That's been a priority for out board of directors for a couple of years. We've had progress made in the last couple of legislative sessions so things are starting to turn around. But we're always looking for ways to facilitate that going forward.

Last year state lawmakers passed a bill to fund broadband in high need areas.

This session, a new bill in the Senate (SB19-1070) addresses easement contracts for broadband installation.

Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, considering a presidential run, was speaking to folks in Iowa and touted the effort he made to revitalize the rural economy by expanding broadband access to smaller communities, bringing businesses along with it. He says attention to rural communities should be a national priority.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Interior has just launched a new effort designed to increase broadband internet access on federally-managed lands.

The USDA Rural Utilities Service announced that it has extended application deadlines for the Rural eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program). USDA is pushing back the first application deadline to May 31.Telecommunications companies, rural electric cooperatives and utilities, internet service providers and municipalities can apply for millions in grants and loans to connect rural areas that have insufficient broadband service.

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