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Cortez Seeks Voter Approval to Partner with Internet Providers

3/11/2021

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.

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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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