Reprinted with permission from the Allenspark Wind, December 2023 Vol. 50, No. 11, June 2024 Vol. 51, No. 5, by Edward Yagi
As Allenspark’s snowbirds return to our area and the annual rituals of opening up cabins, repairing snow and wind damage, and checking up with friends and neighbors are in full swing, a new item should be on everyone’s checklist this year: keeping abreast of the Trailblazer internet rollout.
In order to be good consumers, it is incumbent on all of us to do our homework and understand the terminology. It is with this in mind that the Wind has compiled this handy list of high-speed internet terms.
Broadband: In the distant past this referred to music groups like the the Bangles, the Go-Go’s, and Bananarama. Now it refers to high-speed data access, and by “high” we mean really high:10 gigabits per second (10 Gbps), which is 100 times faster than DSL – and 178,571 times faster than the old dial-up you used when the internet first came out.
DSL: An increasingly obsolete form of internet connection that uses existing telephone lines. Dial-up simply hijacked voice bandwidth and replaced it with data (which was why you couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time in 1994). DSL uses “black box” software and equipment that separates voice from data on the same line at different frequencies. We told you this before.
ONT: OK this is new one. An Optical Network Terminal is the device in your home that converts optical signals from the FOC into the electrical signals used by your computers, phones, WiFi routers, etc. You can think of it as a fancy, advanced modem but you won’t be very “with it” if you do.
FOC: Fiber optic cable. C’mon, you should all know this by now.
EPP&C: Estes Park Power & Communications. Trailblazer is an ISP (internet service provider) that operates within EPP&C. Abbreviated to just “P&C” by cool people. The only people up here who have and are bringing you FOC.
UPS: This could either be the folks who deliver pack-ages to your doorstop or Uninterruptable Power Supply. In the latter case, a UPS is a kind of fancy battery that you install between the electrical outlet and the device you want to power or protect. A UPS can provide voltage regulation, surge protection, and backup power from anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. This last part is important because you might suffer from a….
PSD: This is as bad as it sounds: Power Supply Disruption. Basically, a blackout, due to either equipment failure, an accident, or probably the most common in Allenspark, weather factors such as high winds or heavy snow. But if you were an Xcel customer a few weeks ago, you probably got it with a…..
PSPS: Public Safety Power Shutoff. This is where a utility intentionally shuts off electricity to prevent power lines from sparking fires in potentially dangerous conditions. According to Estes Park Director of Utilities Reuben “Bomb.com” Bergsten, EPP&C is reluctant to do a PSPS, since this tends to mess up your morning, afternoon, or evening. But since anything is better than a Maui or a Marshall (fire), it will always be a possibility.
BTW, Trailblazer has its own internal emergency pow-er sources. This means that even if the electrical grid goes down, assuming you have EPP&C Trailblazer FOC and a UPS hooked up to your ONT, even with a PSD or PSPS you should still have internet connectivity long enough to at least access EMER INFO.
Just FYI. M.O.N.E.Y.: In 21st century Colorado, a series of zeros and ones in electronic financial ledgers that greatly deter-mines in what month, probably this year, Trailblazer service will reach our homes in Allenspark.
Vault covers & non-service impacting lines: Forget it. You don’t need to know.
Shock: A powerful but not-unpleasant emotion of surprise such as that felt by “Sean E” when Trailblazer hiked 1/8 of a mile through three feet of snow to do an installation at their home on March 15. If that date rings a bell, it was the day after Snowmageddon 2024. A “great bunch of dudes,” according to Sean, spent most of the day shoveling in order to do the installation. The dudettes, presumably, had the day off.
So unless you really enjoy having your internet crash frequently or waiting five minutes for your cat videos to download, you should have Trailblazer’s phone number on speed-dial and start making tentative preparations now, especially if you’re not a year-rounder, to get hooked up as soon as the service is available at your location.
And one more btw, Estes Park just had a new Town Board and new Mayor sworn in recently. Maybe they can help Trailblazer complete its roll-out by finding some M.O.N.E.Y.
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.
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.”
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/.
The “glue” of Trailblazer Broadband is someone you don’t always see, but she’s everywhere, keeping the wheels of progress – and construction – moving. She is Linda Swoboda, Estes Park Utilities Business Manager. Having worked with the Town of Estes Park since 2015, Linda has spent much of the last 4 years coordinating operations for Trailblazer Broadband as well as other utility projects for the Town. In her role with Trailblazer, she has created and coordinated the entire construction schedule with the fiber team and manages day-to-day operations, subcontractors, supply management, contracts, grant writing, and budgeting.
Swoboda has a dual expertise in Construction Management and Architectural Studies, backed by two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and an MBA. In addition to all her other responsibilities, she used her unique talents to design and renovate Trailblazer’s headquarters at 1180 Woodstock Drive. She has also provided independent estimating consulting services for building contractors and architectural design firms.
Linda grew up in Nebraska where she was a tenured associate professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, teaching estimating courses. She was also a project manager for The Weitz Company in Nebraska and Arizona.
After relocating to Estes Park in 2010, Linda and her husband Gary became active community members. Swoboda is an occasional snowshoer, hiker, quilter and long-time member of the Estes Valley Quilt Guild.
“I am so happy to be here in the beauty of Estes Park and surrounded by such a great community of friends. The Trailblazer project has been a labor of love, and I am really looking forward to bringing it to its planned completion in the next year, ” Linda says. Trailblazer is incredibly fortunate to have Linda as its guiding force!
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/.
Appeared in the Estes Park News June 23, 2023
Incredibly, the first four years of Trailblazer Broadband’s fiber buildout are behind us! Following a unanimous vote of the Town Board on March 12, 2019, the Town of Estes Park kicked off its community-owned and operated broadband. This high-speed internet service will ultimately be available to everyone Estes Park Power & Communications serves.
Currently, Trailblazer service is available to approximately 80% of the intended recipients and this year, construction has expanded into the outlying areas of Glen Haven and Allenspark. To date, there are over 3,200 Trailblazer Broadband customers, 250 of which are area businesses.
PROGRESS TO DATE
This new fiber network has been entirely built from scratch since the old cable infrastructure used by other carriers cannot provide the speed and reliability of 100% fiber optic lines. The state-of-the-art fiber infrastructure of Trailblazer Broadband requires an expansive network spread from 4 centralized “huts” to 55 strategically located cabinets and then to thousands of terminals across our valley.
Over 780 miles of fiber optic cable have been run since construction started in Sept 2019. As with electrical lines, main fiber lines may run overhead or be buried underground, depending on the location. When running fiber underground, crews typically follow existing easements which is why we may need to cross asphalt or concrete paved areas; however, we try to minimize cutting through these hard surfaces. “It is always our goal to make any disruption from our construction as minimal and short-term as possible,” comments Joe Lockhart, Estes Park Power & Communications Line Superintendent.
During the past four years, the Trailblazer team has constantly streamlined and adapted the construction plan to reach as many customers as quickly as possible while maintaining the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the project. Linda Swoboda, Estes Park Utilities Business Manager explains, “Agility is essential to any large-scale project, and this one is no exception. During the buildout process, we encountered challenges from our surroundings including wildfire, record snowfall and freezing temperatures, fiber damage from wildlife and most recently, a lot of rain. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down our operations less than a year after we started building the network. We weathered that well, but the resulting supply chain issues and rising cost of materials continue to impact us today. Although other front-range communities – Longmont, Ft. Collins, and Loveland – have built similar fiber networks, none of them have faced the same terrain challenges that exist in the Estes Valley. Even considering those challenges, we have been ahead of our original schedule for a good portion of the buildout which leaves us well-positioned to complete construction by the original timeframe by the end of 2024.”
When we change our schedule, the timeline for some areas improves which pleases those folks, while other areas are pushed back on the schedule. We realize that delays can disappoint those eagerly awaiting service, and we are committed to getting everyone connected as quickly as possible. All community members are encouraged to register at www.TrailblazerBroadband.com to receive the latest news and updates with no obligation.
2023 KEY MILESTONES
As the project nears completion, two key milestones are taking place in 2023. The first milestone is making payments on the bond issued to fund the broadband buildout. This bond, procured grants, and Trailblazer client revenue have funded 100% of the project without using any tax dollars. “Obviously, bond payments are a priority for the project’s sustainability, and we are well-positioned to make those payments,” says Swoboda. “We also have to make sure that we pace ourselves efficiently to the finish line for the remainder of the project.”
To that end, the second milestone is to have the Estes Park Power & Communications fiber team do all future construction and installation work in-house. Trailblazer has relied on excellent contractors to help with the buildout, which would not have been completed as quickly or efficiently without them.
“This transition to the in-house team has been planned since the beginning, and now is the time,” states Skye Stiner, Trailblazer’s Lead Fiber Technician. “We are optimizing our resource management to complete as many Trailblazer installations as possible each week while continuing the overall network construction. Summer is always the busy season, and combined with longer run times to Glen Haven and Allenspark, we know the schedule will be tight until the end of the project. This may mean a little longer wait times for our customers from sign up to installation, so we encourage anyone interested in service to sign up as soon as service is available in their area and get on the schedule.”
COMMUNITY IMPACT
In addition to faster, more reliable internet, Trailblazer Broadband service is an investment in the community. Investing in its broadband service, the Town of Estes Park keeps dollars in the community while creating jobs and ensuring high-quality local support through Estes Park Power & Communications.
The fiber optic lines that provide state-of-the-art broadband service also serve as the foundational backbone of Estes Park Power & Communications’ Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The AMI is comprised of smart meters and infrastructure devices to transmit the meter reading data. According to Reuben Bergsten, Utilities Director, “Our AMI data is analyzed to reveal potential problems, and we use that information to initiate preventative maintenance that reduces the risk of wildfire from our electric infrastructure.” This technology is essential to a well-maintained working system and will help the community reach its renewable energy goals.
From the outset, the broadband program has achieved success because of the community’s desire for high-speed internet and the support of businesses and residents alike for Trailblazer Broadband. In the words of one new customer, “This is exactly why we switched over to Trailblazer Broadband!! A local company and representative, watching out for us, personally answering the phone when I call, taking care of us.”
Reliable, high-speed internet is no longer a luxury. Ultimately, this is a public utility and a local asset that will provide additional value, opportunities, and sustainability to Estes Valley residents and businesses for years to come.
THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
Trailblazer Broadband became a reality only through the efforts of a dedicated team. In addition to the Estes Park Utilities Team and Fiber Specialists, Trailblazer’s sales and support team includes Customer Experience Manager Kim Smith and Customer Support Representatives Teresa Jones and Angelo Raso, all of whom have been on board since the project began nearly four years ago. Trailblazer also thanks its valued partners Backbone Fiber Systems, GE Construction, Splash Fiber, OTM, eStrategy3, and FullStack for their various contributions and expertise essential to the buildout effort.
The Trailblazer team looks forward to completing the project in 2024 as originally planned and appreciates the flexibility and understanding of the community as we bring the broadband network buildout to a successful conclusion.
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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