Comcast is driving a new wave of broadband expansion in Colorado, after the telecommunications company recently announced it invested more than $16 million to boost connectivity across the state’s rural areas.
The news follows major expansion projects in the Eagle, Gypsum and Kremmling communities. Since 2017, Comcast has invested more than $1.3 billion in technology and infrastructure developments in the state, including upgrades to its broadband network.
The latest expansions represent an ongoing commitment from the company to provide residents and businesses with access to innovative, reliable, fast and secure broadband services, says J.D. Keller, senior vice president of Comcast’s Mountain West Region, which covers the Centennial State, as well as Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
“We live and work in Colorado, and our commitment is to deliver innovative media and technology experiences with our broadband,” he added. “We’re innovating to bring you products you can use to connect and protect, entertain, and communicate — now and in the future.”
That future includes a collection of emerging technologies, such as 10G. Comcast is a leading force in the global 10G initiative — a coalition of major cable operators working together to deliver 10 gigabit networks — to dramatically increase internet speeds and performance.
Last year, Comcast reached a milestone in the quest for 10G when the company demonstrated 1.25-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) symmetrical speeds over a live network. And in 2021, a Colorado-based Comcast engineering team completed the first successful test of the Full Duplex DOCSIS system-on-chip (SOC) device, a major sign of progress as the group prepares to introduce the technology into consumers’ homes.
“The big benefit [of this technology] is that we’re able to increase the speeds and capacity being consumed on the internet,” Dan Rice, vice president of Access Architecture and Technology at Comcast told Colorado Inno at the time. Rice spearheaded the live production in Denver. “It’s important for consumers not only for downloading files or streaming movies or games, but when you’re doing really important things like working from home and schooling. You need a network to be reliable.”
Having reliable broadband plays a critical role in spurring economic development. Network reliability can often be the deciding factor for expanding or relocating businesses, effectively creating or eliminating the opportunity to retain and grow jobs, said Kim Woodworth, who serves as Executive Director for the Economic Development Council of Colorado.
“Reliable broadband services are essential to competitive communities,” added Jeremy Rietman, Town Manager in Gypsum, which is receiving broadband expansions as part of Comcast’s recent investment. “Comcast’s network investment ensures our community can support any healthcare, education or business data needs, and keep pace with the broader economy.”
While Comcast Mountain West leaders say they’re investing in part to meet increasing consumer demands, the company is also doing its part to ensure that lower-income families aren’t being left behind. Outside of extending its networks to rural communities, Comcast is providing digital literacy training, discounted computers, and low-cost broadband service through its Internet Essentials program.
Since launching roughly a decade ago, the Internet Essentials initiative has connected more than half a million Coloradans through the program.
In today’s Digital Era, internet affordability or lack of broadband access shouldn’t be a barrier to connectivity, said Stephanie Rideau, senior director of Business Development for Comcast’s Mountain West Region.
“Since Comcast’s founding more than 50 years ago, our mission and purpose has been to connect people to the moments and experiences that matter most,” she added.“Thriving communities are built on connections whether they are hard wired or through experiences that bring us together. The more that people in our communities are connected with each other, the more we share, grow, and succeed.”
