Among numerous projects proposed by Broadband Services Management Office at the June 1 Board of County Commissioners work session, the BSMO co-managers Eric Hittle and Jason Cox were promoting the idea of running new fiber cable along Highway 160, through downtown and uptown, and beyond, covering much of the same territory as the Southwest Colorado Access Network (SCAN) fiber laid between 2010 and 2014.
In promoting this $1 million project, the BSMO co-managers noted that the new fiber would “be entirely owned by the Town and County and administered by the BSMO, giving complete independence on every bit of it… giving 100% of the lease [income] to the BSMO and in turn to its partners.”
Yesterday, in Part Six, I had quoted local broadband employee Kristie Wayward explaining that, when the Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County had contracted to help fund the SCAN fiber — a joint project with USA Communications — one of the key aims was to make some of that government-funded fiber available to private businesses and residential customers along and near Highway 160. But, as Ms. Wayward explained, the contract had been poorly handled and had basically left the Town and County begging for access to their own network.
Now the BSMO is suggesting that the taxpayers fork out almost $1 million to lay brand new fiber alongside existing SCAN fiber that, ten years ago, was supposed to be controlled by the Town and County… but unfortunately ended up being controlled by a private company: USA Communications.
It appears that the Town and County essentially ‘wasted’ a significant chunk of the $4 million SCAN grant awarded in 2010.
From the June 1 BSMO presentation:
SCAN Fiber Redundancy – Complete control of Open-Access network
- DOLA [grant] eligible
- Fiber, equipment and installation costs for approximately 12 miles of fiber buried in CDOT right-of-way from eastern terminus at US 84/160 to western terminus at Hurt Drive (Turkey Springs), including all trenching, handholes, fiber and management/engineering
- Cost: $934,500
- County Cash Contribution $467,250
- DOLA Contribution: $467,250
As I’ve observed the broadband mess from a distance, peering out from the Daily Post office, it seems like one government broadband grant after another has turned out rather poorly for us ordinary Colorado taxpayers. I’m thinking of the EagleNet debacle, for example, as described this 2018 Forethought.net article.
EagleNet was an Inter-Governmental Agreement among school districts in Colorado, to create an entity to foster broadband connectivity to schools. To achieve this goal, they sought and won a $100 Million grant from the federal NTIA, and defined their mandate as connecting every school district in Colorado with fiber broadband internet service. This was a large grant, and, quickly became politicized, especially when EagleNet started having operational difficulties.
In 2012, when EagleNet started, there was definitely a need in a number of communities for significantly better options. Schools needed reliable, affordable high speed Internet for classwork, and they couldn’t get it – especially in places like Telluride, Norwood, Mancos, Collbran, Silverton – rural communities very poorly served by CenturyLink.
The first key EagleNet mistake is that they invested heavily in areas that didn’t need it, because there was already existing and competitive fiber. They overbuilt existing fiber, unnecessarily competing with existing private companies.
Many additional mistakes left the EagleNet project looking like a government-funded boondoggle.
I’m also thinking of the grant awarded in 2015 to CenturyLink through the FCC’s Connect America Fund — $26.5 million per year for six years — and wondering where all that money went?
From a 2020 ArsTechnica article:
CenturyLink and Frontier Communications have apparently failed to meet broadband-deployment requirements in numerous states where they are receiving government funding to expand their networks in rural areas… CenturyLink notified the Federal Communications Commission that it “may not have reached the deployment milestone” in 23 states and that it hit the latest deadline in only 10 states…
In December 2019, CenturyLink agreed to pay a $6.1 million penalty after Washington state regulators found that the company failed to disclose fees that raised actual prices well above advertised rates. CenturyLink was also forced to stop charging an “Internet Cost Recovery Fee” in the state. The company still faces a class-action lawsuit involving customers from multiple states alleging billing fraud.
I wonder how many folks in Pagosa Springs — one of the rural ‘target communities’ supposedly served by the CenturyLink FCC grant — feel like their broadband service has improved since 2015…?
Here in Archuleta County, meanwhile, about $720,000 worth of broadband improvements at various locations are nearing completion, thanks to state grant funding provided to privately-owned Visionary Broadband. The BSMO helped coordinate those wireless-tower projects, which include service to new customers in Aspen Springs, improved service for some folks along Highway 84, and a huge tower in southern Hinsdale County that will serve a few families in northern Archuleta County, as well as emergency services in both counties.
Most of us in the core areas will not find our Internet improved by those particular projects, however.
After 17 years of writing about politics in Archuleta County, I’ve developed a certain measure of skepticism about our local governments getting involved in tax-funded Internet projects. But, at the same time, I’ve watched private companies take unfair advantage of the public — and of the public coffers.
I’ve also seen, on occasion, both government and private companies do a fine job of serving the public. On occasion.
From the vantage point of 2021, we can’t truly say… whether we ought to trust our government leaders to take significant control of local Internet services, and basically convert broadband into a public utility, similar to our water and sewer utilities…
…or whether it makes more sense for our electricity co-op, La Plata Electric Association (LPEA), to lead the way with the provision of fiber…
…or if private industry would do the best job, in the long run.
Looking around the US, we’ve seen examples of utter failure and brilliant success… regardless of which model gets chosen.
But I would propose one key argument for our Board of County Commissioners to consider. We currently have a serious crisis taking place in Archuleta County, in terms of workforce housing.
We do not have a broadband crisis.
I’d really hate to see the BOCC spending our entire 2021 ARPA subsidy on broadband projects, to essentially make it more convenient to watch Netflix…
…when we have workers in our community living in vehicles.