Drew Davis, Larimer County Broadband Program Manager
Larimer County recently joined Next Century Cities, a nation-wide municipal initiative dedicated to ensuring availability of next-generation broadband internet for all communities.
The City of Fort Collins, Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, and Longmont, Colorado are also members of Next Century Cities.
“Next Century Cities welcomes Larimer County, the latest community to join us in support of high-speed internet,” said Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities. “We encourage all local government agencies who are interested in recognizing the benefits of these investments to business, schools, government and more to join this initiative.”
Larimer County recognizes the importance of next-generation broadband as a regional effort. “County roads help to form a network of reliable transportation with city roads, state roads and federal highways in our region, and the same can be said for broadband,” said Larimer County Commissioner Lew Gaiter.
“It’s impractical for cities to be an island of connectivity, especially when we are so mobile and recreation in areas and towns outside cities are in the mix. Businesses also need fast, reliable connectivity to complete transactions as those in municipalities do.”
In the past several years, Larimer County staff visits to areas outside cities in Larimer County have met with overwhelming concerns from residents about poor connectivity and reliability, with no plans by incumbent providers for improvements in service. Change is needed to provide fast, reliable connectivity to residential customers, businesses, emergency responders, health care providers and patients, and vulnerable populations.
More than 180 cities have joined Next Century Cities to leverage the gigabit-level internet and attract new businesses, promote economic development, through a fast, reliable internet.