Colorado Towns and Counties Win Right to Build Their Own Broadband Networks

It is too early to know what might come next, but voters in at least seven Colorado communities--and some say as many as 43 cities or counties--on Nov. 3, 2015 opted out of state rules preventing municipalities from creating their own telecommunications networks.

That might lead some to consider building Wi-Fi access facilities, optical backbones or even considering other more direct challenges to telco and cable TV high speed access.

At the very least, the new freedoms will provide continual pressure on CenturyLink, Comcast and other firms to continue significant bandwidth investments.

Comcast, for example, already has committed to upgrade all its networks to 1 Gbps speeds in 2016, with 2-Gbps access available in perhaps 85 percent of locations.

CenturyLink already is rolling out gigabit service in a number of neighborhoods in its metro Colorado locations.

But the local governments now have the right to build and operate their own facilities, if they choose to do so.