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Progress Report Fall 2024 – Trailblazer’s 5th Anniversary

READER NOTE: Bookmark this page where we will be posting additional progress updates in the future.  If you or someone you know is not already registered in our system, please do so HERE. There is no obligation whatsoever to register, and you will be the first to know of any changes that impact your neighborhood.  

Triumphs and Challenges in Rural Connectivity

As Trailblazer Broadband celebrates its 5th anniversary, the community-owned internet provider reflects on significant strides in connecting Estes Park and surrounding areas. With total fiber internet now available to 90% of the planned service area, Trailblazer has become an essential utility for over 4,000 clients, with installations now booked into January 2025 due to high demand. Providing service to the remaining 10% of proposed service locations, of the project presents some challenges that are currently being addressed.  The Town Board of Trustees and Mayor Gary Hall were updated recently on the Trailblazer Construction status. 

Remaining Challenges

Geographic Area

Trailblazer’s geographic footprint covers an area larger than Longmont, Fort Collins, and Loveland combined, and the remaining 10% of proposed service locations are spread across a large, sparsely populated area. This last phase of the project, dubbed “Phase 4,” encompasses the most challenging areas to build, including areas along Highway 34, Highway 66 (out to the YMCA), and the Highway 7 corridor to Allenspark. Logically, this area is more expensive to build because of terrain, size distance between service locations, and lower revenue yield because of lower population. Further, based on utility usage, over 50% of potential clients in these sprawling areas are seasonal, part-time residents based on their utility usage.

As Phase 4 residents and businesses know (this includes you, Allenspark!), Trailblazer has been “Coming Soon” for more than a year now. Many folks have noted that our crews have run fiber along main routes in their area such as  Highway 7 to downtown Allenspark, so service should be available, correct? Unfortunately, just because main fiber has been built to a certain area, does not mean the network is complete and ready to offer service to individual locations.  Think of it this way:

Imagine a massive oak tree representing the fiber network. The thick, sturdy trunk and main branches have already grown strong – this is the backbone of the fiber network that’s been built. However, the smaller branches that extend out to the very edges, along with the twigs and leaves, are still missing. These represent the connections to individual neighborhoods and homes.  Just as it takes more energy and resources for a tree to grow its outermost branches and leaves, it’s more complex and costly to build the final connections of a fiber network.

In town, it’s like growing branches in rich, fertile soil:

• Many homes are close together, like leaves clustered on a branch
• The infrastructure (conduits, poles) often already exists
• Higher population density means more potential customers per mile of fiber

In rural regions, it’s like trying to grow branches in rocky, sparse terrain:

• Homes are spread far apart, like isolated leaves on long, thin twigs
• New infrastructure may need to be built from scratch
• Fewer potential customers per mile of fiber laid, and in this case, many homes that are seasonal and may not need service year-round.

The rural component of a buildout like this often accounts for a disproportionate amount of the total network cost:

• In urban areas, it might cost $500-$1000 per home to connect
• In rural areas, it could cost $5000-$10,000 or more per home

This is why internet service providers often prioritize deployments in high population density, where they can connect more customers for less investment, similar to how a tree naturally grows more leaves where branches are densest.

Finally, before we can bring service to the rest of Allenspark and some other less densely populated areas, we must fulfill our existing obligations and installations which have slowed as you read in the blog above.  At this time, we simply don’t have the resources to open those areas and fulfill our existing obligations.

In the meantime, using the main fiber lines that are currently in place, Trailblazer has piloted service in a couple of places in Allenspark, including Wild Basin. By the end of the year, public Wifi service will be available at the Allenspark Firehouse to ensure that the community has a reliable location to provide emergency communication and Wifi services for the winter.  This is similar to the free Wifi central access point that is available at Estes Park Town Hall and at the Glen Haven Firehouse.  With grant funding anticipated, we plan to being installations in Allenspark in late spring or early summer 2025.

Grant Funding 

Rising construction costs and supply issues, many of which resulted from the COVID-19 have exhausted the original bond and grant funding allocated for the broadband project back in 2019. For further detail on this see our last construction update in our blog https://trailblazerbroadband.com/trailblazer-fiber-construction-update-spring-summer-2024/)

At the outset, Trailblazer promised not to use any tax dollars to fund this project, and it continues to make good on that promise. Construction is currently on hold pending additional funding. Trailblazer is actively pursuing BEAD grant funding to complete rural area constructions in these costly, less densely populated zones.

Rising construction costs and supply issues have exhausted the original bond and grant funding. Trailblazer is actively pursuing BEAD grant funding to complete rural area constructions in these costly, less densely populated zones[2]. If successful, main-line construction work could potentially resume by mid-2025. Since rural construction and the associated rising costs are not feasible for most service providers, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has established a $42.45 billion grant program to date to provide funding for ISPs to be able to expand service to these high-cost, often challenging locations. The State of Colorado has been approved to receive funds for CO internet expansion through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) grant program. 

Even better, The Town of Estes Park/Trailblazer Broadband was selected to receive no-cost professional assistance to support our BEAD grant writing efforts to ensure the best chance of receiving the necessary funding through this grant to complete the grant-eligible locations covered in this funding opportunity. 

Staffing Adjustments

As originally planned, Trailblazer shifted to 100% of construction, installations, and maintenance work done in-house at the end of 2023. This plan unfortunately coincided with losing 2 key staff, which has slowed the progress of our buildout.

With the current limited staffing, Trailblazer field technicians are managing all projects, including any main & service line construction/maintenance/repair; this also includes the loop project, roundabout construction, Cleave St, WAPA support, all installations, replacing damaged lines and any other main or premise maintenance required. Trailblazer management looked at the cost of bringing in contractors to assist with the backlog, but would not have had a significant impact by the time they were onboarded and would have cost a whopping $25,000-$30,000 per week.

Recent positions were filled with existing contracted staff members, and Trailblazer continues to seek additional staff, which proves challenging in the existing job market for Estes Park. Meanwhile, the team is working on assessing the upcoming schedule to see how we can best accommodate the schedule backlog. 

Ahead of the Curve

Despite these challenges, Trailblazer remains committed to its goal of providing high-speed internet to the entire community. While many rural and mountain communities across the country are just beginning to source funding and prepare a high speed internet rollout, Estes Park is far ahead of the curve having recognized the need for this essential service long ago.  The project stands as a testament to the power of community-owned broadband initiatives, and the forethought of Estes Park in particular, in bridging the digital divide and connecting our community.