A state law passed more than 16 years ago prohibits municipalities from providing high-speed Internet services to users without voter approval. But the law has had a chilling effect on development of high-speed Internet services in rural areas of the state. That’s why the City of Cortez seeks voter approval on April 6 to waive that restriction.
Transcript
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As the City of Cortez and
Montezuma County get ready
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to extend a high-speed fiber
optic cable south of town,
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the City Council will ask
voters to restore its right
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to provide internet services
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to residential and business customers
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when the installation is completed.
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You’re watching the Local News Network,
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brought to you by The
Overlook at Edgemont Highlands
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and ACE Choice Builders in Cortez.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
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The City of Cortez wants
to dot all of its i’s
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and cross all of its t’s
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to ensure that it can
provide internet services
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to residential and business users
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as it completes work with Montezuma County
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on a $600,000 project to
extend fiber optic cable
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south of town.
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A state law passed 16 years
ago prohibits local governments
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from providing high-speed
internet services to users
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to protect commercial
telecommunications companies
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from competition with local governments.
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But the law also has
severely limited access
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to high-speed internet services
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in rural communities like
Cortez and Montezuma County
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because they lack the number of customers
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that commercial internet providers need
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to cover the cost of infrastructure.
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That’s why the City of
Cortez seeks voter approval
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to waive the state law and to sell access
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to its fiber optic network
to private providers.
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A lot of times, it’s very
expensive to build broadband,
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and communities that are smaller,
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such as the City of Cortez,
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it’s about 8,500 people.
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It’s very costly to build fiber
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to every single residence and business.
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And so a public-private partnership
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would allow the utilization
of some public funds
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and private funds to be able
to get that deployed faster.
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It also can help provide
a service provider
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to provide the services
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instead of the city having
to provide the services.
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There’s a lot of requirements as an ISP,
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an internet service provider,
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that you have to have a
certain amount of uptime
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and things like that,
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and that can become onerous
for a municipality or a county.
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The Southwest Colorado
Council of Governments
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provides consultation and
resources to local governments
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on telecommunications issues,
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and serves as a coordination agency
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for intergovernmental partnerships
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to build fiber optic networks.
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The City of Cortez and
Montezuma County recently agreed
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to jointly fund a $600,000
fiber optic cable extension
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from the city to Road G in the
southern part of the county.
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Eventually, the cable most
likely will be extended
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to serve the Ute,
Mountain Ute Indian tribe,
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and the Colorado Department
of Transportation.
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Gillow-Wiles said the city
most likely has the authority
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to sell access to the new network now
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because it provided internet
services to non-municipal users
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prior to the state’s laws passage.
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But voter approval to
waive the restrictions
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clearly allows the city
to provide open access
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to the new network.
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The waiver will not increase taxes,
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but it will provide
high-speed internet access
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to more users,
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many of whom have struggled
with slow home internet speeds
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during the pandemic.
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One of the results of this COVID pandemic,
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people are doing so much work
online and Zoom meetings.
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Even after the threat has passed,
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I think a lot of people will be continuing
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to work at home, do Zoom meetings.
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And so there’s going to be a great need
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for the high-speed internet
now and in the future.
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So we’re kind of preparing for the future
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’cause it’s not going to go away,
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the need for internet connections.
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Voters will have an opportunity
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to decide on the internet ballot question
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during a special election
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scheduled for Tuesday, April 6th.
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To learn more, visit the cityofcortez.com.
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Thanks for watching this edition
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of the Local News Network.
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Be sure to stay in touch
with our latest local news
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about Cortez and Montezuma County
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through Instagram, Twitter,
or your favorite podcast app.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
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