Ideas. Stories. Community.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate during KSJD's Spring Fund Drive and you could win a Super73 E-Bike! Click here to donate NOW.

Why Should Local Governments Help Set Up Broadband Internet?

geralt
/
Creative Commons

 

Voters in Montezuma County will see a question near the end of their ballots called issue 1A, and voters in the town of Dolores will see an additional issue: 2A.

 

 

These issues give voters the option to opt out of Colorado Senate Bill-152, which currently bans local governments from setting up broadband internet services. Supporters of a “yes” vote say opting out of the bill will make a difference in the county’s economic development for years to come. 

 

SB-152 was passed by the Colorado State Legislature in 2005. 21 Colorado counties and 45 Colorado towns, including Mancos, have already done so, according to the government interest group Colorado Municipal League. The City of Cortez is not covered by the law, since it set up a municipal broadband service before it was passed. 

 

To learn more about broadband and why voters should trust local governments to set up a broadband service in the first place, KSJD’s Austin Cope talked to Chelsea Jones, economic development specialist with the Montezuma Community Economic Development Association (MCEDA). She says broadband is so important it should be considered a “fourth utility.”

 

 

Austin Cope is a former Morning Edition host for KSJD and now produces work on a freelance basis for the station. He grew up in Cortez and hosted a show on KSJD when he was 10 years old. After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2010, he lived in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, northern Wyoming, and Himachal Pradesh, India before returning to the Cortez area. He has a degree in Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio.
Related Content