Earlier this month, Colorado repealed Senate Bill 152, a 2005 state law requiring every local government to ask voters for permission to build a broadband network. The Colorado Sun reported that towns have been trying to overcome this law for nearly two decades. Since 2011, 122 cities and towns opted out of Senate Bill 152, according to the Colorado Municipal League.
With the passing of Senate Bill 183, all towns will now have access to federal broadband funding under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (BEAD). The “clean bill” dropped the need for a referendum and modernized the language, going into effect on May 1, 2023.
“Removing this barrier means cities and counties that had not opted out no longer have to overcome this massive task,” said Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office.
Kevin Bommer, executive director for the Colorado Municipal League, explained the history and objective of the original bill (SB 152). He said the telecom industry hoped to avoid “what they thought was unfair competition from government-owned or operated telecom or even television…it was a straight-up no local government can do this period, a pre-emption.” He added that SB 152 made municipal ownership and operation of telecom and broadband illegal — unless voters gave permission.
Adding the opt-out measure to a ballot was costly for municipalities. The Colorado Broadband Office estimated the cost for a ballot measure was between $5,000 and $40,000, depending on the size of the city.
Before May 1, about 75 percent of Colorado cities and 30 percent of counties had yet to opt out of SB 152, most of which were in the state’s eastern and northwestern (rural) regions. “They’re smaller and rural and lack financial resources to host an extra election,” said Reitter.
Longmont was the first Colorado town to try, fail, and succeed in overcoming SB 152. The city won approval from voters in 2011 to build a network, which was completed in 2014. The Colorado Sun reported that Longmont’s NextLight network has since been ranked first for fastest service by PC Magazine.
According to NextLight’s executive director, Valerie Dodd, “We’re in continual build mode because the city is expanding and growing at what is roughly 1 percent a year.” She added that NextLight’s gigabit service is available to 92 percent of the city’s households. The adoption rate for businesses and residents is around 60 percent.
“Our measuring stick is connectivity for everyone,” Dodd said. “We are not picking and choosing neighborhoods or apartment complexes. It’s truly access for all.”
Not all Colorado municipalities followed Longmont’s formula for success. Some built a fiber-internet backbone and then leased access to private internet providers or opted out and decided to let private companies (like Google Fiber) provide a turnkey solution.
So why repeal now? The Sun reported that the COVID-19 pandemic put community broadband and the prevalent digital divide under a microscope. “You had kids who couldn’t go to school, and so their parents were driving them to a parking lot of Walmart or the library so they could pick up a strong enough WiFi signal so they could do their homework,” Bommer said. “It was like, something’s got to change.”
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