Fort Collins voters say yes to broadband

Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Broadband hopes and the Ranch were the big winners on 2017 Election Night in Larimer County. Jennifer Hefty, Chris Abshire

Buy Photo Colin Garfield, a member of the committee supporting a Fort Collins broadband utility, toasts to citywide broadband during a watch party at The Mayor of Old Town on Tuesday. (Photo: Austin Humphreys/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

Fort Collins residents want access to super-fast internet service, and they want it sooner rather than later.

Voters on Tuesday approved a city proposal that would permit the City Council to establish a telecommunications utility to provide broadband services. Unofficial, partial returns as of 12:42 a.m. showed the measure passing with 57.15 percent of the vote.

Ballot Question 2B does not require the council to create the utility. It gives council flexibility in setting up a business model for providing high-speed internet, including entering into a partnership with a private company.

City Manager Darin Atteberry said he appreciates the trust residents showed in approving the measure. The council will have a work session later this month to discuss its next steps toward implementing broadband.

Mayor Wade Troxell said he was not surprised the question passed, although he was surprised by the level of opposition to the proposal.

“I was very encouraged with the passage today, and particularly with the headwinds of incumbents trying to misinform the electorate,” he said. “And also, I was very disappointed in the (Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce) playing an active role in misinformation.

“I think there is some accountability that has to come out post-election.”

The proposal passed despite a well-financed advertising campaign to defeat it. The political issue group Priorities First Fort Collins reported spending $451,564 on its campaign through Nov. 1.

The grassroots group Fort Collins Citizens Broadband Committee, which supported 2B, reported spending $9,250 through Nov. 1.

Supporters actively campaigned for the measure through social media. They said the city could do a better job of delivering fast and affordable internet service than private service currently available in the city.

Committee member Colin Garfield said the issue of broadband appealed to people who might not otherwise pay attention to local politics or vote in off-cycle elections.

“This particular ballot issue resonates with people we don’t normally see, and I think that’s what made a difference,” he said. “Whether it was a younger population or people who generally feel disenfranchised … people who don’t normally get excited or vote actually turned out this time and actually got energized.”

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Critics said Fort Collins residents and businesses already have access to broadband and government should not get involved.

Longtime city resident and business man Bob Carnahan said he was disappointed in the outcome, but added the voters have spoken.

“It makes me sad that we are going to pit our government against private industry and have them compete,” he said. “This to me is the tip of the iceberg when we have such a population in this country that believes bigger government is better government.”

Priorities First Fort Collins representative Sarah Hunt said voters “bought into the false assertion that gig speed is not already available in Fort Collins.”

“There are still many lingering questions and we hope the city thoroughly answers them before making any further decisions,” she stated in an email to the Coloradoan. “If they fail, we all pay the price.”

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The measure also authorizes issuing up to $150 million in bonds through its electrical utility to pay for building and operating the network.

Fort Collins proposes building a fiber-optic based network that would cover the entire city and its growth management area, which is land expected to be eventually be annexed. Fiber would be run to all premises that subscribe to the service.

The city hopes to offer 1 gigabit-per-second speed for uploads and downloads. Projected pricing for residential customers is $70 per month for 1gbps and $50 for 50 mbps.

A high-level business plan for the system states the system would need at least a 28 percent “take rate” to succeed. In Longmont, which built a broadband network that went live in 2014, subscriptions among residences and businesses have averaged more than 50 percent.

Fort Collins officials have been exploring the possibilities for bringing broadband to the community as a municipal utility for more than two years.

Interest in municipal broadband was spurred in part by residents frustrated by what they considered slow speeds and poor connectivity provided by incumbent commercial internet service providers, such as Comcast and CenturyLink.

City officials also touted potential economic development benefits of offering high-speed broadband to small businesses at affordable rates.

In 2015, Fort Collins voters exempted the city from a state law that prohibits local governments from competing with private industry in providing telecommunications services, including internet. The measure passed with 83 percent of the vote.

City staff and consultants researched different business models for delivering services through a city utility, including the possibilities for establishing partnerships with public and private entities.

They traveled to cities where municipal broadband is considered a success, such as Chattanooga, Tennessee, and 30 miles to the south in Longmont. Staff also researched cities where broadband systems failed, including Provo, Utah.

This story will be updated as final election results come in Wednesday.

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