Colorado Bill To Improve Rural Broadband Access Moves Ahead

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper was expected to sign a bill Monday that would provide money to help bring broadband to rural parts of the state, a pressing issue in Montezuma and La Plata counties. The Grand Junction Sentinel reports that lawmakers such as state Senator Don Coram, a Montrose Republican, had to battle opposition from major telecommunications company to bring Senate Bill 2 to the floor and get it passed. The bill takes money from an existing fund that provides grants to support land-line infrastructure in remote areas. Over a five-year period, the money will be shifted into the new Broadband Deployment Fund instead.