Tamara Chuang

GigaPop, long exclusive to universities and federal research labs, offers unthinkably fast speeds and access to the brightest minds — and their data. And now, this decades-old network wants to expand to connect as many western Colorado educational institutions, K-12 classrooms, nonprofits, health care services, and community organizations it can, from Denver to Durango and Grand Junction. The idea that an exclusive research network could spread to the Western Slope and connect students, telemedicine patients and telecommuters is being pitched as BiSON West.

Internet outages became a distant memory in April as a good chunk of western Colorado turned on a new broadband system. But this wasn’t built by a typical telecommunications company. It took a band of local governments and partners from 14 rural communities to stitch together the 481-mile network, dubbed “Project Thor.” Communities from Aspen to Meeker craved better access and affordability but also demanded reliability.

In cities like Denver, where broadband is so prolific that availability is estimated at 99.94%, the digital divide is no longer about lack of internet service or limited to rural areas.

When money is tight, Elysia Lucero has to make a choice: Pay the internet bill or buy food for her family.  She bought food last month. On Wednesday, she stopped by the PCs for People store on West Alameda Avenue in Denver (CO) to take care of the unpaid internet bill.