The $100 million federal grant that Colorado won for broadband expansion will open a window on a new world of learning opportunities for the state’s rural communities.
The grant, announced last week, will help all Colorado schools, but will be particularly appreciated in plains and mountain communities where high-speed Internet service has yet to reach.
It’s good news for Colorado students as the state pushes forward with ambitious education reforms.
The grant will pay for new or enhanced fiber optic lines that will connect 1,700 schools, more than a dozen community colleges, 26 libraries and three higher education institutions.
But the access likely won’t stop there.
Getting the lines to those institutions will give private interests the opportunity to lay what is frequently called the “final mile” to connect individual homes and businesses to high speed Internet.
The grant money will come from $4.7 billion that was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Although we have worried, as others have, about runaway federal spending adding to the deficit, this money already has been appropriated and some other state would get it if Colorado did not.
Colorado clearly deserves the grant. The state’s access statistics are dismal. Out of 50 states, Colorado ranks 42nd in broadband connectivity, with service costing 10 times more than in neighboring states.
As it stands, Internet speeds in Colorado schools are very slow compared to the national average. The slow speeds affect how the Internet can be used, a situation that should change with this grant.
Within a few years, the state’s school districts and other institutions are expected to experience the power of faster Internet connections. We look forward to seeing how they’ll harness this powerful new tool.
