Clearnetworx, an internet service provider based out of Montrose, says it intends to provide optional broadband service to about 5,700 addresses in Durango by the end of the year.
With the provider’s residential pricing ranging from $50 to $70 per month, Clearnetworx is likely to put pressure on companies like Ting to lower prices.
“The issue that we’re having in rural Colorado is the cost of bringing high-speed fiber to the rural parts of the states,” said La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka.
By comparison, residential prices cost $89 per month for Ting.
The company began construction on a comprehensive fiber-optic network to bring high-speed internet to in-demand neighborhoods in Durango along Florida Road in September 2023. But now phase one will also include most of downtown Durango.
The provider is still awaiting approval to gain access to utility poles from the La Plata Electric Association in order to start building its connection in downtown.
Part of the reason for the company’s purchase of FastTrack Communications Inc. in November 2023 was to build a stronger relationship with LPEA, which previously owned a stake in FastTrack.
Clearnetworx is slated to begin home installations for the Florida Road project as early as next week and as late as the end of the month, said Director of Business Development Casey Irvin.
Irvin said the majority of the distribution network has been established for the Florida Road area, which will provide optional broadband access to 1,900 addresses.
A lack of broadband access has plagued Southwest Colorado, making it difficult for certain areas of Durango, Bayfield and La Plata County to receive quality high-speed internet service at a reasonable price.
High-speed internet has become crucial for workers, students and businesses in the area. Restaurants use online point-of-sale systems, students turn in assignments via the internet, and access to the internet is mandatory for some of the region’s jobs.
But most of the Western Slope has struggled with obtaining higher speed internet, and it is a prime reason for why Clearnetworx is expanding across the region, Irvin said.
He said the main issue is cost.
The company began working on building fiber-optic connection in Bayfield in 2019. It has spent the last five years trying to bring the cost down.
“Bayfield was an expensive community to deploy fiber in,” Irvin said. “And hence the reason why it had really poor service to begin with. There wasn’t a ton of other providers interested in making that significant of an investment into a community that small.”
The reason why smaller communities like Bayfield tend to be more expensive has to do with its access to aerial zones. Aerial zones include those in which companies can connect fiber-optic cables via utility poles rather than buried in the ground, which is much more expensive.
Irvin said it costs anywhere from $12 to $40 per foot to build buried fiber deployment in a town the size of Bayfield. Aerial cable fiber deployment costs $2 to $4 per foot, making it the much cheaper option. Cheaper development means less cost is inflicted on the provider’s subscribers.
Clearnetworx’s service area is supposed to cover north Bayfield to Forest Lakes and parts of Vallecito and County Road 240, or about 1,400 addresses. Brenda’s Cafe was among the businesses’ to gain access to fiber-optic connection in late 2023.
Irvin said the underground work has been completed in Bayfield. However, Clearnetworx is still working with LPEA to establish aerial connections. He did not give a specific time frame for when the project would fully be completed.
“Especially in a community like Bayfield, where the cost to deploy a network like that is so expensive, we want to keep the rates low for customers to be able to subscribe to fiber,” Irvin said.
Irvin said it’s hard to promise the company’s high-speed internet rates will never rise, but the company’s intent is to keep them within that range.
But that could depend on the market. Factors like the cost of building and how many people are interested in the provider’s service.
“If a lot of people will take the service, those rates are great,” Irvin said. “If nobody wants the service, then obviously, we invested a lot of money into the community and we’re not going to be economically sustainable unless we pay that back.”
Salka said the county and Region 9 Economic Development District have been vigilant in searching for broadband grant funding and continues to keep internet service providers updated in ways the projects can be funded.
“Funding is always a concern because it's not cheap to bring in fiber,” he said.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
