Slow road for rural broadband; access still difficult outside the Front Range.

• Author: Caleyl, Nora
• Position: STATE of the STATE

The votes are in, and Colorado residents want broadband.

In November, residents in 44 municipalities voted to allow their local governments the ability to offer broadband Internet to residents. The approvals meant cities would be exempt from a 2005 law--Senate Bill 152--that restricted municipalities from supplying broadband.

Over the past few years, other communities voted similarly. Broadband industry experts say that is a sign that residents, especially small-business owners, are tired of waiting for access to technology in their towns.

"I think what you saw with that vote is an outcropping of the larger issue of broadband availability," says Brian Shepherd, broadband program manager at the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT). "The primary difference between broadband and traditional telephone is broadband is completely unregulated."

That could prevent rural areas from attracting new businesses, such as call centers and startups that might move away as they grow. Shepherd says the OIT is working with the Department of Local Affairs and counties to develop regional broadband strategies.

"The issue is dollars and cents," says Craig Settles, a consultant and broadband industry analyst. "The return on investment is anywhere from five to 10 years, and that's not acceptable in a world where one or two quarter profit is the norm."

The result, Settles says, is either broadband with poor service, slow speeds, or bundled packages that customers do not want. That dynamic is changing, however. "People are going to, at the very least, take it into their own hands to negotiate for favorable terms for getting broadband or do it themselves," he says.

That's what business owners did in Rifle when they needed broadband to send large files, process credit card transactions and download vendors' software. Phil Vaughan, who owns Phil Vaughan Construction Management and is chairman of the business affairs committee for Club 20, a business coalition on the Western Slope, says the group approached CenturyLink about four years ago. Garfield County is a rural area with low population density, mountainous terrain, and 60 percent of the 3,000-square-mile area is on federal land, so rights of way and other details needed to be sorted. Still, CenturyLink saw value in upgrading the system for businesses ranging from health care to tourism to retail.

"I don't think anyone had gone to CenturyLink in our area and asked for an upgrade to broadband," Vaughan...