“It’s a bigger hurdle for Greeley to get over. In fact, in our research, there isn’t any other community that at the population that we have that is doing municipal broadband without an electric utility.” Brian Sullivan, City of Greeley.
Greeley does not have its own electric utility; therefore, financing a project this size requires other options, including partnering with other broadband companies that are willing to invest in the risk of laying millions of dollars in infrastructure that would operate the network.
Over the first four and a half years, NextLight has lost 20 percent of its residential customers (3,700) and 11 percent of its business customers (110).
Services that were once billed by one provider, can now be a patchwork of bills with different billing dates to keep track of. In the end, cutting the cord and going “a-la-carte” for services can be just as expensive — if not more — as sticking to one provider.
Telecommunication giants such as Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint are also in the game, and some experts say the introduction of 5G wireless may kill the municipal broadband effort because the old way of hard wiring will become nonexistent.
“If they want to drive on our highway they can pay a toll and they can offer their services on our highway. By making that available, people will have more choices in how they obtain their final product.” — Loveland City Councilman Don Overcash on Loveland’s decision to enter the broadband market.
My concern is that by setting this up as an enterprise, there is no protection for Loveland electrical rate payers. Their electric bill could be used to subside a government broadband that they were never given a chance to vote on.” — Joshua Sharf, fiscal policy analyst for the Denver-based Independence Institute.
The City’s “plan” thus far is vague, At their May 9 work session they identified the need to spend another $215,000+ on consultants to finish the business plan by year-end. This is after they’ve spent upwards of $300,000 on consulting. With an investment this hefty, you’d think we’d have a detailed plan.” — Sarah Hunt, Fort Collins resident.
The charter changes came about because proponents lost an earlier fight to stop the South Centerra urban renewal development, which uses tax increment financing (TIF) as a funding mechanism.
Connexion missed targeted revenues by nearly $10 million, and is over budget on build-out and installation by a massive $35 million.
As it stands, Colorado has spent over $2 billion on unemployment benefits, and while the current unemployment rate is almost half of what it was in April 2020, it’s still nearly triple the pre-pandemic rate.
We need to figure out a way to present as much data as we can that shows what it is we’re doing. I think the public wants to have confidence. I just don’t think the public has enough information about whether they can be confident — Fort Collins Councilman Ross Cunniff.
