Silverton – This historic mining town, which swells to a population of 500 in the summertime, is demanding something that was promised but not delivered.
The state of Colorado pledged in 2000 to connect every county seat to a fiber-optic network and close the digital divide between urban and rural. The project is essentially completed, according to Qwest, which won the state’s $37 million contract.
But Silvertonians, who have relied on tourism since the last gold and silver mine closed in 1991, say, no, their digital divide is 16 miles long. Qwest stopped laying fiber-optic line at Cascade Village.
Instead, Qwest upgraded the single microwave radio relay to Silverton and plans more upgrades.
“It is still substandard,” town board member Patrick Swonger says. “This is as simple as getting what we were promised. It’s outrageous they felt they could exclude the smallest, poorest and most remote county.”
Qwest spokesman Michael Dunne said the company intended to hook up every county seat, but it could not negotiate access to all the private property needed.
This perplexes executives at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which owns a right of way from Durango to Silverton.
“Qwest never contacted us,” D&SNG senior vice president Jeff Jackson says. “Like any business, we want to maximize revenues. A fiber-optic line could be located in our right of way.”
Dunne said Qwest engineers determined it wasn’t feasible. And the state approved the radio link as an alternative. But state Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, said he’s checking into how that happened.
“I don’t think when the state makes a commitment to connect counties with fiber-optic line, it should subject one county to antiquated equipment, leaving them in the Dark Ages,” Larson says.
To draw attention to their missing fiber-optic link, Silvertonians organized a 70-person “human link” Saturday afternoon at the San Juan County Courthouse.
“We’ve still got some scrap in Silverton,” Swonger says. “We’re not going to get left behind.”
Until something is done, it’s nervous toe-tapping time in this mountain hamlet around 3 p.m. when the passengers of the last-departing D&SNG tourist train of the day are trying to finish meals, buy their souvenirs and catch their ride.
All that credit-card swiping by merchants between noon and 3 p.m. starts to slow down the town’s tenuous phone connections to the outside world.
As card authorizations begin to creep through the wires, customers warily eye their watches, says Lucy Walko, owner of Natalia’s 1912 Restaurant.
Over at the courthouse, assessor Judy Zimmerman notices that words begin to crawl across her computer screen. “I tell people who want to fax me something to wait until after 3 p.m.,” Zimmerman says.
At the Scarlet House Internet Café, owner Heather Cooke says connectivity gets even worse for her customers after 3 p.m.
“When everybody gets off work and start hitting their computers … we get dropped,” she says.
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.
