{"id":101101,"date":"2018-03-04T20:29:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T03:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-a-rural-subdivision-found-a-path-to-faster-internet\/"},"modified":"2018-03-04T20:29:40","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T03:29:40","slug":"how-a-rural-subdivision-found-a-path-to-faster-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-a-rural-subdivision-found-a-path-to-faster-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"How a rural subdivision found a path to faster internet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Neighbors
Neighbors in the Deer Valley subdivision, located about 6 miles east of Bayfield, banded together in a quest to improve their slow internet service. Their efforts paid off. A $593,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies will finance infrastructure that is expected to provide the neighborhood with internet speeds of 50 megabytes per second.<\/span>JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Frustrated with antiquated and deteriorating internet service, Jim Wiler and his neighbors in the rural Deer Valley Estates subdivision east of Bayfield began searching for better options.<\/p>\n

It took more than three years since they first began making inquiries, but with the help of AlignTec<\/a>, a small local internet provider with six full-time employees and a $593,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies<\/a>, the Deer Valley residents discovered a path leading to speedier internet service.<\/p>\n

Orion Lukasik, CEO of AlignTec, said the 60-plus homes in the subdivision are now lucky if they can get between 1 and 2 megabytes per second.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem is, it\u2019s not consistent from moment to moment,\u201d Lukasik said.<\/p>\n

The residents looked for other providers, but Wiler said CenturyLink was not interested in serving the rural area and wireless service wouldn\u2019t work. Neighbors used a satellite provider, but satellite service can be interrupted by weather and didn\u2019t deliver on promised speeds, Wiler said.<\/p>\n

The subdivision \u2013 heavily wooded in rugged topography \u2013 could not be adequately served with wireless links, and Wiler said the fiber-optic network the grant will fund is the appropriate infrastructure needed to meet the subdivision\u2019s internet needs. The grant funding from DORA will allow replacement of the existing system with a hybrid link \u2013 a neighborhood fiber-optic line to each of the homes that leads to a microwave feed to connect the neighborhood to the outside internet world.<\/p>\n

The project is expected to provide internet speeds of 50 mbps when it is built in late 2018 or early 2019.<\/p>\n

Wiler said several Deer Valley neighbors worked with AlignTec on the grant application process. Down the road, when more rural fiber-optic lines are available to fill in the \u201cmiddle mile\u201d link in the internet loop serving the neighborhood, the Deer Valley homes will be able to enjoy internet speeds even faster than 50 mbps.<\/p>\n

Lukasik said the Deer Valley project demonstrates that despite obstacles in rural Southwest Colorado, internet service can be improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows one way to get it done. It stands as an example. Hopefully, it generates more interest and conversations locally to find ways to get it done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Local connection<\/h4>\n

More than 50 local government officials, candidates for office and residents filled the Cortez City Council chambers on Feb. 20 to discuss the goal of broadband for Montezuma County.
\n County and municipal governments have been working to bring fast, affordable internet into Southwest Colorado for several years, but funds to install the infrastructure have been elusive.
\n Speakers seemed to agree that rural areas need internet \u2013 for residents, business, education, the economy and health care \u2013 but no clear solution emerged.
\n Cortez plans a feasibility study this year to decide whether \u201cfiber to the home\u201d is a realistic goal.
\n In the end, Mayor Karen Sheek urged the audience to support local solutions to broadband, and to vote for more change at the state and federal level.
\n To read more, go to
\n http:\/\/bit.ly\/2tkQMGE
\n at The-Journal.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3\u00bd-year effort by Deer Valley residents pays off with state grant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5742,5735],"tags":[338,94,13,275,2069],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-101101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","tag-business-enterprises","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-internet","tag-telecommunication-service"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101101"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=101101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}