Communities all over Colorado have voted to reclaim local authority during the past year. Even though elected officials in Fort Collins are exploring the municipal network option, the City Council has yet to present the question to voters. Editors at the local news outlet, the Coloradan, recently expressed their support for a municipal broadband network, urging community leaders to let voters decide.

The Editorial Board focuses on the benefits Fort collins can expect from increased economic development, telemedicine capabilities, and relieved congestion from telecommuting. They see Internet access as one of the essential services cities provide such as water and electricity. The Editorial Board notes that city leaders have already budgeted $300,000 to create a strategic plan that includes community broadband.

The Board acknowledges that there are many unanswered questions - funding, cost, motivation for a deployment. Yes, questions need to be answered along the way, but it is time to move forward:

One hurdle is a 2005 state law that bans municipalities from starting their own telecommunications service, however, either a local vote or a federal waiver could override the law.

The time is now to sidestep the ban and approve municipal broadband.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Near the center of Florida sits Lakeland, the largest city between Orlando and Tampa with 98,000 residents. The area boasts 38 lakes, citrus crops, and a growing healthcare industry. Lakeland also owns a fiber optic network serving education, business, and government. To learn more, we spoke with Paul Meyer, Lakeland Electric City of Lakeland Fiber Optics Supervisor.

The city's municipal electric company, Lakeland Electric, began generating and providing electricity to customers in its service territory in 1904. In the mid 1990s, the utility began replacing older copper connections between substations with fiber-optic cable. Soon after, the Polk County School District asked Lakeland Electric to connect school facilities via the fiber network for video transmissions. By 1997, almost 50 school facilities were connected to each other via using dark fiber provided by Lakeland Electric. In 1994, the District paid $219,582 $84,737 to the utility to design, construct, and install equipment for video connections in four schools. The school received an indefeasible right of use for two fibers for twenty years. over which Verizon delivers data and voice services to the School District on its own lines.

Meyer noted that the fiber project likely cost more than the school paid but the installation gave them the opportunity to expand the network. Further expansion connected the police department, libraries, and water facilities. Over time, the electric utility has incrementally expanded to every building engaged in city business. The network is aerial, using the utility's own poles to mount the fiber.

Near the center of Florida sits Lakeland, the largest city between Orlando and Tampa with 98,000 residents. The area boasts 38 lakes, citrus crops, and a growing healthcare industry. Lakeland also owns a fiber optic network serving education, business, and government. To learn more, we spoke with Paul Meyer, Lakeland Electric City of Lakeland Fiber Optics Supervisor.

The city's municipal electric company, Lakeland Electric, began generating and providing electricity to customers in its service territory in 1904. In the mid 1990s, the utility began replacing older copper connections between substations with fiber-optic cable. Soon after, the Polk County School District asked Lakeland Electric to connect school facilities via the fiber network for video transmissions. By 1997, almost 50 school facilities were connected to each other via using dark fiber provided by Lakeland Electric. In 1994, the District paid $219,582 $84,737 to the utility to design, construct, and install equipment for video connections in four schools. The school received an indefeasible right of use for two fibers for twenty years. over which Verizon delivers data and voice services to the School District on its own lines.

Meyer noted that the fiber project likely cost more than the school paid but the installation gave them the opportunity to expand the network. Further expansion connected the police department, libraries, and water facilities. Over time, the electric utility has incrementally expanded to every building engaged in city business. The network is aerial, using the utility's own poles to mount the fiber.

Near the center of Florida sits Lakeland, the largest city between Orlando and Tampa with 98,000 residents. The area boasts 38 lakes, citrus crops, and a growing healthcare industry. Lakeland also owns a fiber optic network serving education, business, and government. To learn more, we spoke with Paul Meyer, Lakeland Electric City of Lakeland Fiber Optics Supervisor.

The city's municipal electric company, Lakeland Electric, began generating and providing electricity to customers in its service territory in 1904. In the mid 1990s, the utility began replacing older copper connections between substations with fiber-optic cable. Soon after, the Polk County School District asked Lakeland Electric to connect school facilities via the fiber network for video transmissions. By 1997, almost 50 school facilities were connected to each other via using dark fiber provided by Lakeland Electric. In 1994, the District paid $219,582 $84,737 to the utility to design, construct, and install equipment for video connections in four schools. The school received an indefeasible right of use for two fibers for twenty years. over which Verizon delivers data and voice services to the School District on its own lines.

Meyer noted that the fiber project likely cost more than the school paid but the installation gave them the opportunity to expand the network. Further expansion connected the police department, libraries, and water facilities. Over time, the electric utility has incrementally expanded to every building engaged in city business. The network is aerial, using the utility's own poles to mount the fiber.