By Andy Stutzman
At the end of November 2023, NCC journeyed to Colorado to meet up with current member municipalities and participate in the Silicon Flatirons Round Table discussion at Colorado University. As we took time to meet with city leaders from Fort Collins and Breckenridge, it was enlightening to see the differences in their approach to broadband access and the challenges each area is facing.
We connected with Broadband Executive Director, Chad Crager, and Project and Program Manager, Ginny Sawyer, in Fort Collins. With them, we learned more about their municipal fiber network, Fort Collins Connexion, and some of the challenges that they are facing. Municipal networks, like Fort Collins, are finding ways to solve the affordability issues through a 6% fee, agreed to by the community, for their residential service. This fee assists lower-income households.
Fort Collins and Breckenridge have similar needs as they both seek to connect with municipalities doing similar work.This insightful trip was a perfect lead-in to NCC’s formation of a pilot membership group that will help our organization build out a higher tier membership level. This higher tier of membership would provide a direct connection to other members, participate in working groups, and assist NCC in developing annual priorities.
Our road trip to Colorado was topped off with an engaging Broadband Roundtable discussion with a diverse group of researchers, policy experts, and Internet Service Providers. The discussions focused on specific topics aligned with readings provided ahead of time. Topics included the Universal Service program and regulation of Broadband after BEAD, Cybersecurity upkeep and future maintenance, and finally the future of Digital equity and inclusion. The discussion was active and showcased several perspectives on each topic. NCC was grateful to be invited to this roundtable and look forward to future discussions with this group.
Road trips like this provide NCC with a deeper level of insight and understanding of the needs of our members. It allows for more candid conversations that don’t always happen via virtual meetings. NCC is looking to engage more with our members this year. Stay tuned for more information in January about future events and opportunities to participate.
