longmont

Colorado cities vote for muni broadband, in concept

10 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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If you had to choose a single issue, broadband would have been better.

Besides confounding conventional political wisdom by turfing out an incumbent democrat in favor of a hard-to-pin-down republican, Colorado voters said yes to repatriating municipal broadband decisions in a big way.

Colorado state law requires voters to approve municipal broadband systems – a simple vote by the city council isn’t enough. According to the Washington Post, voters in 7 cities and counties voted to approve it…

In Boulder, locals voted on whether the city should be “authorized to provide high-speed Internet services (advanced services), telecommunications services, and/or cable television services to residents, businesses, schools, libraries, nonprofit entities and other users of such services.”

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Muni broadband wins voters' hearts in Colorado but not Seattle

6 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Filling up in Colorado, half empty and still deflating in Seattle.

Seattle voters yesterday turfed out mayor Mike McGinn, their broadband cheerleader-in-chief, giving the job to state senator Ed Murray by a preliminary margin of 56% to 43%. It was a different story in the Rocky Mountain town of Longmont, where residents overwhelmingly approved a fiber-to-the-home bond measure, 68% to 32%.

FTTH was a prominent McGinn campaign promise, both this year and in 2009, when he was elected mayor.… More

Quiet campaign for Longmont muni FTTH bonds

29 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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Cards not on the table yet.

Judging by the lack of ripples in cyberspace, the upcoming $45 million broadband bond election in Longmont, Colorado is not generating a boisterous debate. Granted, it’s difficult to gauge Rocky Mountain political temperatures from beachside in California, but signs of passion, pro or con, are few.

The city’s electric utility published a promotional piece that focuses on the upside of the proposed citywide fiber-to-the-home network and downplays the negatives. The brochure dissembles about the risk to electric ratepayers…

Are my electric rates expected to increase to repay this bond?

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Longmont voters will decide whether to back FTTH with their electric bills

3 August 2013 by Steve Blum
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Putting broadband bonds on the meter.

As Google Fiber takes the reins in Provo, Utah, the city council in Longmont, Colorado is heading to the ballot box to, essentially, ask voters if they want to follow the same path. At least as far as using city electric bills as collateral.

The Longmont council voted in May to move ahead with plans to build a fiber-to-the-home system, leveraging an existing – and successful – municipal dark fiber business.… More

Longmont keeping FTTH details out of public view for now

20 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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Taxiing towards takeoff in Longmont.

The Longmont, Colorado city council settled for a staff report and a powerpoint presentation that summarized the results of a feasibility study, before voting unanimously to take the next step toward building a municipal fiber-to-the-home system. The nitty-gritty details – business model, raw research data, quantitative analysis and the like – are being kept out of the public domain for now.

The report asked the city council to allow staff to continue moving ahead with work on the project, and in particular to give the city’s finance director permission to develop a financing plan, based on various debt options.… More

Waiting for the FTTH feasibility case in Longmont

14 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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Art is nicely presented in Longmont, too.

The city council in Longmont, Colorado considers today whether to move ahead with plans to build a municipal fiber-to-the-home system. They’ll be reviewing a feasibility study prepared by a consulting company and then deciding whether to direct city staff to come up with a financing plan.

Longmont is near Boulder, in the Denver area. The city runs its own electric utility, serving about forty thousand households, and has a backbone fiber optic network that was installed about fifteen years ago to support utility operations.… More