Technological development never sprouts from thin air; it inevitably arises from some kind of existing practice or concept. There is a direct line, for example, from Ramses II in his chariot at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE (famously shooting his horses in the back of their heads) to the width of 21st century high-speed rail gauge. In its first ten years, home internet access in the U.S. mainly piggy-backed on existing telephone lines: the dial-up modems of the 1990’s. But it quickly shifted to the cable TV paradigm, which reached its peak in the U.S. in 2000…penetration was 65% of all households and close to 100% in metropolitan areas.
Ironically, cable TV first appeared in the 1950’s to reach remote areas that couldn’t receive radio TV signals, but a generation later found its true niche as an alternative to traditional network programming. Key inflection points were HBO going nationwide in 1975 and CNN’s start up in 1980. The concept is simple and was adapted from other services supplied to individual homes such as electricity, gas, and telephone. A supplier builds a physical network to supply its product in high volume from its source outward along major routes. From the largest supply lines, smaller supply lines branch out into neighborhoods and large buildings (sometimes to junction boxes known as “nodes”), and from there into individual homes and units.
The term “last mile” (itself adapted from supply chain management of physical goods) refers to the final leg of the network delivery component to the end user. The “last mile” is typically the speed bottleneck and limits the bandwidth of data that can be delivered to an individual customer. In the 80’s and 90’s, customers learned first-hand how the “last mile” hugely affects price or even service availability. In some neighborhoods, the last mile is a few inches; in others it could be hundreds of miles. Most cable TV is owned and operated by private companies that have all added internet services to their service offerings in recent years, but do not service remote areas because the “last mile” isn’t profitable, or profitable enough.
In 2019, Estes Park’s power company (EPP&L, L for “light”) changed its name to EPP&C (C for “communications”) and boldly jumped into the game. A coin was flipped for who got to hang out in warm, brightly lit offices all day chatting up customers, and who got to freeze to death, drown in mud, attacked by woodpeckers, and maybe shot at while actually installing the cable.
The Fiber Team lost the toss and bravely set out on their 4+ year adventure to build a roughly 1000-mile network from zero. Day-to-day installation and operations are managed today by Crew Supervisor Adam Edwards and Head Fiber Technician Skye “Vanilla Splice” Stiner, so-called for his fiber splicing expertise. Fiber Team members are Devin “Disco Dev” Gelsinger, Thom “Stop petting the deer and get back to work” Ingram, Cory “Corn Dog” Ramacher, AJ “AJ” Schwarz, Greg “Go Rams” Smith, Joel “Shortz” Ziegler, and Mike “Mark Hollinger” Barringer – and most recently Nico Randazzo, Landon Donaldson, and Ian Hodde.
The Mighty EPP&C Groundworker Team consists of Dale Duell, Brett Rassmussen, and Matt Pavlish. The following are actual quotes from Fiber Team members confirmed by Trailblazer: “Are 45 mph winds too dangerous for overhead installs?” “Who slid down the hill in the mud and are they okay?” “What do you mean we can’t do the install today because there’s no fiber to the house yet?” “Why didn’t you tell us?” (It is not clear if the previous two quotes are related, but at some point they probably were.) “Someone actually shot the fiber line?” (Apparently there was a 2022 incident involving firearm discharge, but it’s not clear if the target was the fiber optic cable line, a Northern Flicker woodpecker attacking the line, a member of the Fiber Team working on the line, or something else entirely, like celebratory shooting into the air like you sometimes see in old western movies. My money is on the woodpecker…that’s what I would have done.) “The client wants us to run the fiber where?” — this quote no doubt generated several creative and humorous comments in good fun about where this particular customer was more than welcome to run their own fiber. “Who didn’t put their site review notes in the Customer Support system again?” (People! …some things never change!) “We’ll look back at this someday and laugh.” “No we won’t.” And the infamous quote “Of course we can start the Raven Circle condo installs in July!” is attributed to Trailblazer Line Superintendent Joe “Can Do” Lockhart, who remains superintendent today because hey, he was only one month off.
It is worth noting that although these folks are technicians, they are also de facto support and sales advisors because when out in the field they are naturally bombarded with questions from ordinary people, possibly armed, about all things broadband. They also now and then take a little heat from onlookers, again, possibly armed, because there is [SPOILER ALERT!] actual digging and modest construction involved in infrastructure creation. Along these lines, a few other quotes were provided by Trailblazer but regrettably cannot be reproduced here because the Wind is a family newspaper.
So when you see Adam, Skye, Thom, Devin, Greg, AJ, Joel, Cory, Mike, Dale, Brett, Matt, or any of the others – and you will see them – just wave and give them a big HI. No celebratory shooting required.
At Trailblazer Broadband, we’re proud to be known around Estes Park as the only local fiber-to-the-home broadband provider for residents and businesses. But did you know that we also support a third group with our high-speed fiber internet network? Today, we’re taking a moment to celebrate local community anchor institutions.
Read on to learn more about this important group—and how, as a local small business ourselves, Trailblazer Broadband is committed to keeping them connected.
What Are Community Anchor Institutions?
Anchor institutions are mission-based, publicly oriented organizations that provide services essential to our area’s economy, health, safety, culture, and general well-being.
Anchor institutions include hospitals and other medical facilities, emergency services like fire and police, educational organizations, and public services like libraries. Since Trailblazer is municipally owned by the Town of Estes Park, it is actually part of one of the town’s anchor institutions.
These institutions all play a critical role in our society, and they all depend on reliable access to the internet to function effectively in the 21st-century economy.
Hospitals and Medical Clinics
Universally appreciated by everyone fortunate enough to have one close by, a hospital is an anchor institution that many of us depend on in the starkest moments of our lives. Whether they’re treating chronic illnesses or responding to life-threatening injuries, hospitals and other medical clinics provide critical services every day.
In a recent interview with the Estes Park News (September 8, 2023 edition) about his retirement, Estes Park Health’s CIO, Gary Hall, commented on the internet at EPH during his 18-year tenure, “We had six megabits of internet access when I arrived,” Gary remembered. “Now, with Trailblazer, for which we were strong advocates, and other steps forward, we enjoy internet line redundancy and many gigabits of critical broadband service.”
And in a true health emergency, every second counts. Rapid access to medical records, keen and swift analysis of radiological and similar medical imagery, and urgent consultations among experts—these are often matters of life and death. Thus, perhaps more than anywhere else, having internet as reliable and fast as fiber in our community hospitals and health clinics is most critical.
Beyond the immediate health needs of patients and the broader community, hospitals and medical clinics regularly communicate with both patients and other health professionals. Maintaining a solid internet connection to transmit medical files and even hold telehealth follow-up visits is crucial to the missions of hospitals and medical centers.
Fiber’s bandwidth capacity is substantially larger than other types of internet and can make indispensable communication and data transfers quick and seamless, helping health providers fulfill their calling—and keep our communities healthier and safer at the same time.
Fire, Police, and Other Emergency Services
Local first responders–the good people of our fire stations, paramedics, and police departments–are our community’s heroes, often putting their own lives at risk to help others. And they are regularly on call at every minute of every hour of the day.
Without the brave and resourceful men and women in fire, police and other emergency services, our community would be far less safe. Thus, it goes without saying that our first responders are anchor institutions in our area, and everyone is grateful for their service.
Reliable communications and connectivity are absolutely critical for these essential services. As part of the same Town of Estes Park infrastructure, Trailblazer Broadband keeps emergency service providers connected for real-time communications and information about hazards, traffic information, hazardous weather and natural disasters, and other problems our community faces. And fiber keeps fire, police, and paramedics connected to everyone in our community–including to hospitals and emergency rooms–providing an instant connection when and where help is needed most.
Educational Organizations
The quintessential anchor institutions are our schools. Centers of learning are focused on using the best and most creative methods to educate the youth in our community and to provide them with skills and knowledge for success.
Fiber optic technology provides our students with the best opportunity for success. Lessons that are supplemented by audio, video, and interactive elements are immersive, relatable, and inspiring—they teach our kids to engage in the world around them far better than any textbook. And everyone knows that textbooks are not cheap and become outdated quickly. By substituting standard equipment with tablets and devices, schools can save a great deal of money.\
The better the broadband connection, the better those devices perform. The Estes Park School District supports 1,500 devices, a robust server and wireless infrastructure, a security camera system, as well as a wide array of both educational and operational applications. The District also provides iPads for student learning for each student PK-12.
Strong connectivity also leads to more efficient collaboration through the use of tools like Google Classroom and Google Workspace for Education. Our students can communicate with teachers and peers on and off-campus and school staff can pursue professional development and continuing education opportunities.
Finally, imagine there’s a theater production happening in New York, or a space shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Obviously that’s too far for a field trip. With a fiber fast internet connection, our schools can live-stream programs and new feeds right into the classroom, allowing students to be a part of the world outside their geographic boundaries.
Libraries and Museums
Often overlooked, but nonetheless invaluable, public libraries and museums of all kinds provide educational, artistic, and cultural opportunities offered almost nowhere else. They bring together resourceful, knowledgeable experts and support staff that create experiences that both inform and inspire.
Groups as diverse as toddlers, school children, book clubs, tourists, and seniors are enriched by the facilities and programs libraries and museums provide. Without fiber internet, however, neither of these anchor institutions can fulfill their unique niche in our community, including facilitating beloved programs like story hour, reading clinics, film nights, visiting exhibitions, club meetings, and guest experts.
And the community can often access many of these features—including e-books and other electronic materials—from home through remote and online access. Thus, fiber keeps each of us better connected to our area’s libraries, museums, and related curated institutions and their bevy of information and collections that set them apart.
Fiber Internet Keeps Our Anchor Institutions Well-Connected to Our Community—and to You
As much as our community depends on anchor institutions to improve our daily lives and make our region a better place to live, anchor institutions in turn rely on dependable and fast internet to get their jobs done. And they also look to the local team of experts and technicians that keep Trailblazer Broadband’s fiber network running strong and efficiently—and with the local knowledge and care to respond fast and effectively to any technical issue that may arise.
Indeed, the team at Trailblazer Broadband are more than just internet service professionals. We’re also your neighbors. Like you, we live and work in our community, which means we rely on and appreciate the work of our community’s anchor institutions.
As your municipally owned internet company, we’re highly invested in responding swiftly to emergencies like outages, which in turn lets the good people at our local anchor institutions do their jobs serving our community and keeping it healthy as well.
When you choose Trailblazer Broadband for your residential or business internet, you support our business—enabling us to turn around and support our community. Thank you for shopping locally for your internet. We’re proud to keep the Estes Valley connected!
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This Trailblazer Team Spotlight honors one of the greatest assets to our fiber team, Greg “Go Rams” Smith.
A pioneer of fiber construction, Greg Smith has spent the last 4 years on the front lines of our fiber optic buildout. He brings 35+ years of Journeyman Lineworker experience to the team. After one retirement in Ft. Collins, he has been part of the Estes Park Power & Communications team for almost 7 years.
In 2019, he accepted the challenge of a split role of assisting in main fiber installation for the Trailblazer Project and has been an integral part of the Trailblazer Team since Day 1. Greg is a master at the electric line “override” (he can get that small fiber line through existing electrical conduit like running back through a defensive line!). Whether digging in vaults, overriding electric conduit, hanging fiber, splicing, troubleshooting, and leading crews, Greg has been one of the great driving forces behind the construction of Trailblazer’s Fiber Optic Network.
With all of his experience, Greg is the go to guy for safety and accountability. He learned additional skills related to fiber and took the team “in for the win” by pitching in on teaching and coaching. Greg has been an inspiration and great mentor for the newer team members.
Known for his witty sayings and creative nicknames, Greg can turn a boring workday into an opportunity to learn, grow and laugh. He is known to enjoy all of the great things that Colorado has to offer, especially the beer!
As an avid Colorado State University Rams Fan, Greg dedicated many years to the CSU football organization as the field communications coordinator which he retired from last year so that he can now enjoy the games without distraction!
If you call Greg or shoot him a text message, he’ll always close with “GO RAMS!” or his other signature phrase “10-4” You can find him at every CSU football home game, bu when you see Greg around town working in the field, be sure to wave hello and thank him for his dedication to Trailblazer Broadband. |
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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/.
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/.
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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