The town of Dolores joined with Montezuma County on a plan to deliver broadband Internet service to the area.
Dolores agreed to chip in $3,334 toward a feasibility study, and the county has allocated $60,000. Optimum Fiber Solutions was hired by the county to study Internet demand and infrastructure needs in the county and for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.
The Dolores Town Board also agreed to ask voters in November to opt out of Senate Bill 152, a law that limits what governments can do in the telecommunication industry. The county also is seeking voter permission to opt out.
SB 152, approved in 2005, prohibits governments from building infrastructure to serve beyond their local government networks. It is intended to prevent governments from competing with private industry.
But 56 counties and municipalities in the state have voted to opt out of SB 152 so they could upgrade critical infrastructure and provide companies a competitive, open-access network to deliver improved Internet services.
“Opting out unties our hands in order to build up the system. It’s like we build the road, and then private companies provide the service on that road,” said Jim McClain, IT manager for Montezuma County.
The county is researching whether forming a telecommunication authority would streamline the broadband project, which is viewed as critical to economic development.
“When people and businesses are thinking of moving here, the first thing they want to know is if there is broadband,” McClain said.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
