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Little-known internet network plans Western Colorado expansion

By The Colorado Sun
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Friday, May 29, 2020 2:02 PM
The proposed expansion of the Front Range GigaPop network includes three local government-run broadband networks operated by the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, the Southwest Colorado Council of Governments and Region 10. By sharing fiber access and working together to bridge coverage gaps between regions, the cost should be lower for everyone and FRGP can reach more schools and researchers who would benefit from its high speed education and network.
Courtesy image
Workers connect Glenwood Springs existing fiber-optic network to the new Project Thor backbone, a 481-mile network built by the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments to improve reliability of internet service in Western Colorado. Since Northwest COG relied largely on existing fiber in 14 communities, the project was relatively affordable and much of the $2.6 million in funding was spent on connecting existing networks together. That often meant just a few blocks to less than a half-mile of new construction at a time. The two-year project was completed in April 2020.
Courtesy of Northwest Colorado Council of Governments
The Quilt is the national organization of research and education networks that offer high speed and high capacity data access for universities, federal labs and other researchers who often swap large data files. The Front Range GigaPop is a member.
Courtesy image

The text-heavy website looks like it’s stuck in the 1990s.

But peering past the Front Range GigaPop’s pages full of Times New Roman font and blue underlined links, you’ll understand what the fuss is about. The broadband network, long exclusive to universities and federal research labs, offers unthinkably fast speeds and access to the brightest minds – and their data. And now, this decades-old network wants to expand to connect as many western Colorado educational institutions, K-12 classrooms, nonprofits, health care services and community organizations it can, from Denver to Durango and Grand Junction.

“It’s important because it is essentially the premier higher-ed research network in Colorado. That alone has a lot of major benefits,” said Chad Robinson, director of IT services at Western Colorado University in Gunnison.

His voice gets more excited as he talks about the learning opportunities for students and faculty at Western. But it’s also about the economic-development potential for the town of 6,600 people. Having access to 10, 20 and even 100-gigabit internet speeds would attract more high-tech businesses and researchers, and possibly spur corporate relocations to Gunnison.

“Yeah, you could do a supercomputer here,” Robinson said. “I don’t know if that makes sense but, hey, you never know.”

The idea that an exclusive research network could spread to the Western Slope and connect students, telemedicine patients and telecommuters is being pitched as BiSON West. The project is the western expansion of the BiSON Network, or the Bi-State Optical Network that stretches from the University of Wyoming and the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s supercomputer in Cheyenne, to more than two dozen Front Range schools and research labs from Fort Collins to Pueblo. Front Range GigaPop, or FRGP, manages the BiSON Network.

Read more of this article at The Colorado SunThe Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com.

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