Team Spotlight: Greg “Go Rams” Smith, Journeyman Lineworker
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The Trailblazer Broadband Internet Rollout…Behind the Scenes by Edward Yagi for the Allenspark Wind
Reprinted with permission of the Allenspark Wind, September 2023 Edition, Vol. 50, No. 8, by Edward Yagi
The day was September 11, 2013 – ten years ago this month. A huge, slow-moving cold front from Canada stalled directly over the Colorado Rockies, clashing with extremely warm, humid monsoonal air coming up from the southwest. The result was a once-in-a-thousand-year downpour and flooding along the Front Range from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. Estes Park was deluged by 9.31 inches of rain in seven days: more than half of what normally falls in a year. Roads were destroyed, neighborhoods were washed away, and Estes Park’s sole Internet connection with the rest of the world – mostly copper line between it and Loveland – simply vanished, not to be replaced for months.
The catastrophe vividly demonstrated our area’s dangerous over-reliance on Internet access – now a necessity of daily life – to a single, non-looped thread of connectivity. It also exposed the scattered, expensive, unreliable, or non-existent access throughout our mountain areas to begin with. It got smart people thinking. Might there be a better way to manage Internet service in our mountains, and if so, who could be trusted to run it?
Six years of research, debate, and preparation later, the Town of Estes Park’s municipally owned and operated broadband service, Trailblazer, became the definitive answer to these questions. Estes Park Power & Light, with the new name Estes Park Power & Communications, kicked off the Trailblazer Project in 2019. This month, September, Trailblazer celebrates its fourth anniversary with 780 miles of fiber optic cable (FOC) installed and its final run into Allenspark just around the corner.
But no project this ambitious is absent its challenges. In March 2020, as Trailblazer was in its initial rollout phase, it received some service calls from a handful of its first subscribers in the Carriage Hills neighborhood of Estes Park. The problem was bewildering given the brand-new, stateof-the-art fiber optic network, technology, materials, and EPP&C’s workmanship. The Trailblazer team was baffled.
The key break in the case was an anonymous note that read “Die Internet Die!” near a damaged stretch of freshly laid cable. Careful analysis by the FBI and the University of Colorado determined that the note was written using a quill from a bird feather; specifically, the Northern Flicker. This is a medium-sized migrating woodpecker with a gentle expression and handsome, black-scalloped plumage, identified in flight by a yellow or salmon tint under the wings and a delightful sustained laugh that cunningly disguises a murderous hatred of all things Internet.
Further investigation confirmed that it was the Northern Flickers themselves sabotaging brand-new fiber optic cable. Ornithological experts determined that this particular pecker had suffered a series of bad experiences on social media and was accordingly engaged in a vengeful and sustained anti-Internet crusade (sharp-eyed Wind readers will recall that wild animal conspiracies against we in our mountains are nothing new). Problem now identified, the Trailblazer team sprang into action. A race of wits ensued with the entire intellectual firepower of Estes Park pitted against a bird with a brain weighing approximately 1/20th of an ounce. The birds, predictably, won hands down for the longest time. They burst into especially sustained laughter at Trailblazer’s failed attempts to keep them off the cables by installing dummy owl decoys.
However, it was the Internet itself that won the day for Trailblazer. Customer Experience Manager Kim Smith read on Wikipedia that woodpeckers have a strong aversion to nacho-flavored Doritos. Trailblazer accordingly switched to a type of cable known as “flat drop” and seasoned them lightly with nacho cheese. As a result of this foxy move, the frustrating flickers finally forgo their ferocious but futile fight.
In addition to installing a brand-new, region-wide, FOC infrastructure across EPP&C’s entire mountainous service area smack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, in its first year Trailblazer had to replace thousands of feet of bird-damaged fiber, cursing the evil flickers with each breath. In the words of Ms. Smith: “We are hopeful that our woodpecker problem is a thing of the past. Trailblazer is delighted to confirm that we are now heading into the final stages of making our super-reliable, super-high-speed fiber optic cable broadband Internet available to anyone who receives power from EPP&C, including our wonderful neighbors in Allenspark. And if anyone wants to purchase a slightly used dummy owl decoy, I have about 6000 of them in my office and they’re available for the low, low price of only $5.99 each. Plus shipping.”
Trailblazer Toolbox: Creating Healthy Tech Habits This School Year
Creating Healthy Tech Habits This School Year
With the kids back in school for another year of learning and extracurricular activities, it’s time for parents to set new schedules and routines for managing their family’s work and school obligations. As you’re setting intentions for a new school year, we’re here to help you create healthy tech habits for you and your kids.
Though Trailblazer Broadband’s high-speed fiber network delivers the fastest, most reliable internet you and your family can enjoy, we know there is more to life than just online time! To help parents plan and prioritize, we’ve assembled this handy guide to developing healthy tech habits for their kids this school year.
With open communication and a bit of parental enforcement of reasonable limitations on tech use, parents should feel confident that they can build a healthy balance between screen time and other key aspects of their kids’ lives.
Tip 1: Begin With a Two-Way Conversation
The first step you should take before setting up boundaries and promoting healthy tech habits is to have a conversation with your kids. You can discuss your concerns about their screen time and encourage them to engage in other activities, as well.
As part of the conversation, however, do take the time to listen meaningfully to your children’s online interests and usage. After all, there are genuinely beneficial aspects to online activity, from communicating with their friends to learning about new ideas, people, and places, and even acquiring new skills and hobbies.
By approaching the topic as a team, you can work together to maximize their online time. This also helps build trust with your kids that this endeavor is not a punishment; rather it’s about better balancing responsibilities and other interests along with their online usage.
Tip 2: Establish Clear and Consistent Screen Time Limits
As part of that open and honest conversation, work together to establish clear screen time boundaries. Parents may choose to set up a daily schedule consisting of periods when device usage is acceptable, while other times are strictly off limits (except, of course, for necessary tasks like homework or other learning).
Other parents may be more flexible, allowing only a set number of total hours spent online each day or every week. To stay on top of this, apps and certain device settings can be employed to track just how much time your kids spend online.
Please keep in mind, however, that experts say it’s best that any limitations on screen time be clearly established and be consistent throughout the day and week.
Tip 3: Schedule Other Priorities
Around the same time you’ve set up screen time limitations, consider scheduling other activities, as well. At first blush, these recommendations may sound too rigid and regimented. Remember, however, in a tech-saturated culture, the goal is to foster a healthy balance of online and device usage with other priorities and responsibilities.
Thus, consider blocking out a few hours each day for homework and reading time. Or schedule at least an hour of time outdoors or in physical activity of almost any kind. Also consider planning regular in-person get-togethers with their friends instead of mostly relying on their devices to socialize.
When coupled with the screen time limitations above, many parents (and kids) find that a natural, healthy rhythm between their online lives and other obligations can emerge.
Tip 4: Consider Turning Off Notifications
Another tip parents can consider is turning off all—or at least most—notifications on your children’s devices. After all, it’s the seemingly constant stream of dings from notifications that draws kids back to their devices to check emails, text messages, social media posts, or video updates, even if you’ve managed to get them momentarily concentrating on their homework or outdoor activities.
You could also establish a timeframe around limiting notifications instead of outright turning them off entirely. For example, blocking out a two-to-three hour time period between afterschool and dinner time without notifications may help naturally reduce screen time—and perhaps even encourage actual face-to-face conversation at the dinner table!
Tip 5: Model Good Online and Screen Time Habits
Our last tip is to remember that your kids are keeping their eyes on you almost as much as you are on them! Thus, it’s important that you model responsible online usage habits yourself.
The more consistently parents model a proper balance between using their devices and other activities, the more likely their kids will do the same.
Given that your child will have to be on their devices a lot more during the school year, these tips should help you better balance their screen time with other aspects of their lives. Just remember the need for open communication, appropriate boundary setting, consistent enforcement of any schedules or limitations, and to model responsible behavior as best you can. And perhaps these tips will help you better balance your own screen time, too!
For more helpful advice on navigating the online world, check out Trailblazer’s Recent News and our Video Library!
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service providing fiber directly to homes and businesses. The Town of Estes Park provides information only and does not endorse any listed companies, the views they express, or the products/services they offer. For more information about internet service, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/.
Trailblazer Toolbox: Kickoff a Great NFL Season with MyBundle
Football fans have long counted on the major networks to follow their beloved NFL team and keep an eye on their rivals and other league play throughout the season. Indeed, CBS and Fox have carried AFC and NFC games, respectively, for decades, making it easy for fans to find their local teams or the national game of the week any given Sunday. And from the preseason through the playoffs, for almost 8 months, there is a bevy of football action to soak up.
But with streaming technology taking hold in households across the country and the NFL signing new broadcasting deals with streaming platforms, some fans are having a tough time sorting through the dizzying number of channels, apps, and platforms to figure out where to watch their favorite game. It can even get tough to remember which nights their team is playing during a particular week!
Fortunately, MyBundle and its sophisticated features makes it easy to stay on top of your sports-related apps and channels—just as it does with all your other streaming content. And thanks to Trailblazer Broadband’s high-speed fiber internet, football fans can enjoy live NFL games with bright and brilliant picture quality that throws you right into the action.
Below we detail where and when you can watch live NFL football on streaming apps for the upcoming season outside the major networks, so you can easily keep track of your team all season long!
Peacock: Home of Sunday Night Football
After watching Sunday afternoon NFL games on CBS and Fox, fans can tune into Peacock, NBC’s streaming app and the home of Sunday Night Football. Starting with the preseason kickoff on August 3, 2023—also known as the “Hall of Fame Game” held in Canton, Ohio—Peacock will broadcast every Sunday night NFL game, easily available to everyone with a Peacock subscription.
Most interestingly, for the first time ever, Peacock will broadcast a playoff game available exclusively through a streaming service in early January 2024—a crucial Wild Card game. This means that to watch every playoff game this season, having Peacock is a must. So if you aren’t already a Peacock user, check MyBundle for deals and be sure to activate a Peacock subscription in time!
Amazon’s Prime Video: Thursday Night Football
Like NBC’s Peacock, Amazon also has skin in the game for streaming evening football—Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football! In total, Prime Video will broadcast 16 games on Thursday nights for the 2023-2024 season, including some can’t-miss matchups like the Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys on November 30.
Amazon is also boasting about the first-ever Black Friday NFL game, streaming exclusively on Prime Video on November 24, 2023 between AFC East rivals Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets. This scheduling innovation is sure to make Black Friday much more than just a shopping day!
YouTubeTV—the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket
For the football fan longing for the freedom to watch just about any NFL game broadcasted on Sunday afternoons, there is another subscription well worth their consideration—NFL Sunday Ticket. NFL Sunday Ticket lets you choose which NFL games you want to watch regardless of where you live—and that service is getting a new home starting with the 2023-2024 season.
Formerly a special add-on offered only by satellite TV provider DirectTV, NFL Sunday Ticket is moving to streaming giant YouTube TV. Industry insiders have reported that YouTube TV paid $2 billion a year for the seven-year contract deal. Though it’s a pricey add-on for YouTube TV subscribers, it may well be worth it to football’s most die-hard devotees!
YouTube TV will let you simultaneously stream Sunday Ticket’s games on multiple devices. However, it is strictly limiting simultaneous streams to devices accessed from the subscriber’s home only, and not from elsewhere. Thus, those intending on sharing their Sunday Ticket subscription with people living outside the home will be out of luck.
But there are still major advantages to multiple simultaneous streams from home, including YouTube TV’s awesome upcoming “multiview” feature, which will allow streaming of up to four programs at once. That means an NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber could theoretically stream four NFL games simultaneously on YouTube TV!
When you combine Peacock, Prime Video, and YouTube TV’s streaming services and features, NFL football fans will have the most complete coverage of professional football anyone can get. So, login to My Bundle today and build a bundle worthy of the most dedicated football fan—and don’t miss a minute of your favorite team this season!
For additional information about MyBundle and how it improves your streaming experience, click here. And be sure to follow Trailblazer Broadband’s Streaming Page and Video Library for more information about streaming your favorite content.
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service providing fiber directly to homes and businesses. The Town of Estes Park provides information only and does not endorse any listed companies, the views they express, or the products/services they offer. For more information about internet service, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/.
2023 Star Award for Northern Colorado Community Fiber
Congratulations to NOCO Community Fiber for winning the Fiber Broadband Association’s 2023 Star Award at this year’s FBA Fiber Connect conference. Each year at the Fiber Connect conference, the Fiber Broadband Association celebrates outstanding contributions to the fiber industry. The Star Award specifically recognizes a person, community, or company that has gone above and beyond what is expected in the advancement of fiber internet to the home.
NOCO Community Fiber is a partnership between municipally-owned communications utilities and the county they empower, dedicated to the delivery of reliable, high-quality, affordable, and fiber-optic broadband. We have demonstrated that ubiquitous, affordable, high-quality access to critical resources is an achievable goal when communities collaborate on creative solutions, and profitability is removed from the equation.
Trailblazer Broadband is proud to be part of the NOCO Community Fiber collaboration along with other organizations including Loveland Pulse, Fort Collins Connexion, Poudre Valley REA, and Larimer County Government, which are all working tirelessly to bring fiber to their communities and the entire region. The excellent teamwork of NOCO Community Fiber entirely deserves the Star Award!
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service providing fiber directly to homes and businesses. The Town of Estes Park provides information only and does not endorse any listed companies, the views they express, or the products/services they offer. For more information about internet service, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/.
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