Colorado

Under Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s leadership, our Benefit of the Bargain reforms restored the program to its statutory objective: universal connectivity delivered through competition, accountability, and respect for the law.  The result has been lower costs for taxpayers, real skin in the game for providers, and faster broadband access for consumers. States, freed from unlawful one-size-fits-all mandates, could evaluate projects on a granular basis and select those that truly fit their needs.

David Edinger, Colorado's chief information officer, met with Colorado Gov Jared Polis (D) in 2024, and Gov Polis told him to embrace AI in state government. "I said, 'We've seen a few missteps from certain cities and states around the country. How do you feel about an approach that's more along the lines of bullish with guardrails?'" Edinger said.

When the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) revealed several weeks ago that its changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program would include cost thresholds, the state of Colorado had reason to be concerned. “We know Colorado is expensive,” said Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office.

The Colorado Broadband Office is excited to announce that it will soon open the Advance Colorado Broadband Mini Grant Program for unobligated funds from both the Capital Projects Fund and State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. CBO expects to publish more details on or around October 3, 2025, and will host a webinar providing information on the program, the associated map and the timeline.

SpaceX has challenged at least two more states’ tentative grant winners under a $42.45 billion broadband expansion program, asking the Commerce Department to step in and mandate that states hold another round of bidding. In those comments on Colorado and Wisconsin’s plans, the company pointed to locations it thought it should have won: those where cost came in 10 times the cost of the lowest offer and those that on average cost more than $10,000 to connect, collectively representing 3.5 percent of the locations eligible for funding in the state. “NTIA should carefully review Wisconsin’s pro

Following a June 6 announcement from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that restructured the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, all states and territories have been tasked with reevaluating their plans to connect un- and underserved locations to high-speed internet.

As SpaceX lobbies for more federal funding for Starlink, the company is facing a new setback in Colorado, which is awarding a major portion of its broadband projects to a rival satellite provider.  Colorado recently announced the winners of its $400 million US Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Its proposal stands out for picking satellite services to deliver high-speed internet to about ha

The executive director of Colorado’s Broadband Office Brandy Reitter offered a sneak preview of results from Colorado’s Benefit of the Bargain Round. Under the old Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, roughly 70 percent of Colorado’s locations were set to be served by fiber, and 30 percent were to be served by fixed wireless and low-earth orbit satellites. Now, only 40 percent of Colorado’s locations are set to be served by fiber, with most of the remaining 60 percent going to LEO. 

The GFiber team recently broke ground for fiber-internet service that aims to cover unincorporated Douglas County (CO). “We try to put our infrastructure within the entire community and then we let people know that, hey, you’re eligible for Google Fiber service,” said Alberto Garcia, GFiber’s government and community affairs manager. “Our plan is to cover as many homes as possible.” GFiber is planning to expand in several more Denver-area communities, but also in other cities and towns around the state that want to work with the company.