Save the Internet: Montrose, Colorado takes a step closer to owning their own broadband, phone networks

A small Colorado town is taking their digital future into their own hands. Article by Jim Branscome for Save the Internet Leaders of Montrose, Colo., a city of 19,000 on the Western Slope, think their economic future is tied to faster Internet connections.

A small Colorado town is taking their digital future into their own hands.

Article by Jim Branscome for Save the Internet

Leaders of Montrose, Colo., a city of 19,000 on the Western Slope, think their economic future is tied to faster Internet connections.

Colorado law requires citizens to vote in support of municipal participation in broadband buildout. My little San Juan Mountains town in Western Colorado on April Fool’s Day voted by an overwhelming 74 percent to reclaim the right to provide our own broadband, cable, phone and other telecommunication services.

In 2005, that right was taken away by corporate Internet lobbyists who convinced state legislators it would be unfair competition to allow rural areas like mine to provide their own gigabit Internet speeds if the giants refused to do so.

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