Wiring Colorado

The “digital divide” is slowly closing, but still can be characterized as a canyon between rural and urban populations. While many rural citizens are “wired”and enjoy basic Internet service, connections at the high speeds and broad bandwidths necessary for e-commerce and government are not readily available. Despite the potential for telecom-based growth in rural areas, it is difficult to convince private industry to install infrastructure in rural areas. In rural southwestern Colorado, Ed Morlan, Executive Director of the Region 9 Economic Development District (EDD) an Economic Development Administration funded district, is filling in the digital canyon by offering grants to local public offices to purchase telecommunications services from vendors willing to install advanced infrastructure in rural areas.

Morlan is accomplishing this by participating in Colorado’s Beanpole Project. This state initiative and grant program seeks to link local government offices to the state’s Multi-Use Network, an information-sharing system being implemented among the branches of state government and administrative agencies. The program hopes that infrastructure laid for government purposes will stimulate private industry growth. Morlan is an enthusiastic participant, administering grants in FY 2000 of nearly $200,000 and ready to oversee the disbursement of $1.375 million as vendors are approved in the next few months.

Beanpole is sorely needed in Region 9, which contains five counties, covers 6,594 square miles, and serves cities ranging in population from 185 to 15,000. (The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe are also a part of the district and have been consulted about advanced telecommunications on their lands. Because they are not subdivisions of the state, these tribes are not eligible for Beanpole funds.) As an example, the town of Ignacio has so far been left out of recent telecommunications advances. Morlan explained that with a population at 1,200 and relative geographic isolation, Ignacio could not present a business case to a private vendor for extending large capacity fiber optics to the town. Ignacio also lacked hardware and software that could provide advanced high-speed telecommunications services even if large capacity fibers were laid connecting the town to a fiber optic backbone. With Beanpole funds, Ignacio could offer a vendor a large percentage of the installation costs of the cables and necessary upgrades to the central office switch.

Region 9 has a strong background in telecommunications progress. In 1999, Morlan formed the Southwestern Colorado Access Network, and implemented a survey of telecommunications usage patterns and needs among local governments and nonprofit service providers such as schools, libraries and hospitals. Region 9 partnered with the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute and Pueblo, Colorado to host webfairs for businesses venturing online. After several successful webfairs, Region 9 transitioned into providing technology training through the Southwest Forum for Teaching Technology. Part of this training is a toolkit that other regions can use as they prepare to survey telecommunications needs.

Region 9 has elevated telecommunications so that it is considered as important as transportation in the planning process. Telecom is a major component of the region’s most recent Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and the region’s five year plan. Morlan believes that “telecommunications is actually a form of transportation — it concerns the transportation of data instead of people,” and wants to make sure that all communities in southwest Colorado can continue to plan accordingly.

By Laura Marshall, NADO Legislative Representative

For more information, contact Ed Morlan of Region 9 EDD at (970) 247-9621, by email at region9edd@frontier.net or on the web at or on the web at www.scan.org/r9edd.html

February Index | Back Page | Next Page