Tag Archives: Broadband

BOCC April 18 2018: BOCC: Cleanup Day Scheduled, Land Acquisition, Tower Electric Bills, Possible Weed Manager Share

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

—April 18, 2018
WETMORE, Colo.

by Jackie Bubis

The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
Chairman Tom Flower began with Attorney Items:
Attorney Roger Smith reported giving legal advice to Sheriff Shannon Byerly, attending the Justice Center Committee Meeting (see below for discussion of name change.) He also went to the Fire Ban Workshop, and drafted a letter to Tom Redmond regarding airport hangar space. Continue reading BOCC April 18 2018: BOCC: Cleanup Day Scheduled, Land Acquisition, Tower Electric Bills, Possible Weed Manager Share

“Wifi Towers” Still Possible w DOLA GRANT

“Wifi Towers” Still Possible:
DOLA Will Dole with Matching Funds

The Sentinel received a copy of the following Grant Response from DOLA to the BOCC Chair from Senator Crowder. We’ll provide more details in next week’s BOCC report.  The letter’s text is below:

—March 27, 2018

RE: EIAF 08635 – Custer County BB Infrastructure Expansion

Dear Chairman Flower:
The Department of Local Affairs is in receipt of your application for state Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance funds. These revenues are derived from oil, gas, carbon dioxide, coal, and metals extracted in Colorado. Continue reading “Wifi Towers” Still Possible w DOLA GRANT

February 28th BOCC: Broadband, Personnel Policy, 4-H

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

—February 28, 2018
WESTCLIFFE, CO
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
The room was again packed with folks there to encourage the Board to vote yes on moving forward with the grant for the “broadband” towers.
Approval of the minutes of February 6th and 7th was unanimous.
Commissioner Items:
Commissioner Canda reported on attending the County Needs Assessment meeting as well as the CCEDC Workshop. Commissioner Printz attended both meetings as well.Chairman Flower went to the Fair Board meeting as well as these other two. Continue reading February 28th BOCC: Broadband, Personnel Policy, 4-H

BOCC Approves Broadband Tower Project with Contingencies to Protect the County

by Sentinel Staff

After much discussion, including a Custer County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) workshop on Monday, the Custer County Commissioners voted unanimously last Wednesday to move forward with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) potential grant for the CCEDC’s proposed broadband tower project, with the proviso that all bases are covered before the project actually commences.
Commissioners Bill Canda and Tom Flower expressed much concern over the many loose ends that will have to be tied up before the project can actually commence. With a time deadline of approximately one year for all the project’s unknowns to be resolved, there is a real possibility that the project still will not be able to be accomplished. Continue reading BOCC Approves Broadband Tower Project with Contingencies to Protect the County

The CCEDC’s Broadband Towers Proposal The $2 Million “Road to Nowhere”

by George Gramlich,
Managing Editor
Analysis and Commentary
Introduction

Custer County should not commit to supporting this venture that the Custer County Economic Development Committee (CCEDC) is proposing. Government should be limited, especially when it comes to entering a private sector marketplace (Just look at what happened to healthcare.)
Just from a business perspective, the proposal lacks a detailed business plan, market analysis, income/revenue projections, firm cost and liability projections competitive analysis (satellites, etc.), technology evolution projections, and county infrastructure requirements to support the towers. The proposal is fatally incomplete and would be laughed out of any CEO’s office.
For Custer County to make a 20-year financial and
liability commitment to this incomplete, flawed and certainly doomed project would be fiscally irresponsible and a complete disservice to its tax paying citizens. Continue reading The CCEDC’s Broadband Towers Proposal The $2 Million “Road to Nowhere”

CCEDC’s Broadband Tower Proposal Instant Obsolescence?

by Dan Bubis

Colorado law requires that municipalities hold a referendum before providing cable, telecommunications, or broadband service, unless the community is unserved. Our community is not unserved, we have several providers and yet we have not seen a ballot issue addressing whether taxpayer funding should go to providing either broadband or telecommunications. For the County to engage in the provisioning of these services they stand a reasonably good chance of being sued.

One of the major problems with the CCEDC’s proposal is that they don’t really have a plan beyond building towers. They have no commitments from any providers of Internet or Cellular service. While “if you build it, they will come” may work in a movie, businesses need more concrete commitments to ensure success. AT&T has demonstrated an unwillingness to increase their current equipment and they already have a tower. If the existing Internet providers could make the use case for additional towers, they would erect those towers. Perhaps the CCEDC is planning on providing access to the towers at no charge. Then how will maintenance and support be funded. See the map of DD Wireless (now Secom) towers for an idea of existing coverage. Continue reading CCEDC’s Broadband Tower Proposal Instant Obsolescence?

Comments on the CCEDC Broadband Tower Proposal

by Dan Bubis

Colorado law requires that municipalities hold a referendum before providing cable, telecommunications, or broadband service, unless the community is unserved. Our community is not unserved, we have several providers and yet we have not seen a ballot issue addressing whether taxpayer funding should go to providing either broadband or telecommunications. For the County to engage in the provisioning of these services they stand a reasonably good chance of being sued.

One of the major problems with the CCEDC’s proposal is that they don’t really have a plan beyond building towers. They have no commitments from any providers of Internet or Cellular service. While “if you build it, they will come” may work in a movie, businesses need more concrete commitments to ensure success. AT&T has demonstrated an unwillingness to increase their current equipment and they already have a tower. If the existing Internet providers could make the use case for additional towers, they would erect those towers. Perhaps the CCEDC is planning on providing access to the towers at no charge. Then how will maintenance and support be funded. See the map of DD Wireless (now Secom) towers for an idea of existing coverage. Continue reading Comments on the CCEDC Broadband Tower Proposal

Federal Broadband Definitions: The Impact on CCEDC’s Proposal

Editor;
I would like to address the issue of government run Internet provisioning as the Custer County Economic Development Corporation advocates. Because the issue is complex and I don’t want to chase rabbits, I will limit my concerns in this letter.
First, we need to define broadband. In 2015, the FCC changed the requirement for Internet speeds to be considered broadband from 4 Megabits per second download speed and 1 Mbps upload to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. That meant millions who had fast enough Internet speeds suddenly did not have “broadband”. The decision was completely arbitrary and capricious and was not based on any science. Continue reading Federal Broadband Definitions: The Impact on CCEDC’s Proposal

BOCC: Wetmore Sink, New Health Insurance, CCEDC Grants, Live Streaming Issues

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

—October 31, 2017
Westcliffe, CO
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Mr. Kattnig was present via phone. County Attorney Smith was not in attendance. State Senator Crowder was visiting. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
The Board approved the minutes from the October 18th meeting.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Printz is working on the replacement for the sink at the Wetmore Community Center – after saying in the previous meeting that the Wetmore citizens were just stuck with it. The new one should arrive on Thursday.
Commissioner Hood commented that she has spoken with Centurlink and the phone lines that are in the tree at the Wetmore Community Center will be fixed no later than November 10th. She reported on attending the VSO workshop and commended Tim Swartz on the quality of the workshop.
Commissioner Kattnig had no items but welcomed Senator Crowder and also spoke of the success of the VSO.
Administrative Assistant Items
Mrs. Gaide reported that the grant for the Hermit Bridge project was received and that there needed to be a discussion with Road and Bridge Supervisor Hyde about what comes next. She stated that the live streaming test run last week revealed that the sound could not be heard. The work is ongoing to get that running. The contract with CTSI for health insurance was signed and meetings are set up with departments to get the applications completed. The savings to the county are in the range of $50K and she reported that the employees are pleased with the change.

Continue reading BOCC: Wetmore Sink, New Health Insurance, CCEDC Grants, Live Streaming Issues

LTE: Socialized Broadband: A Lot of Dollars, Little Results

03-31-2017

This informed letter is referring to the study on Broadband solicited by the Custer County Economic Development Corp (CCEDC).  They have linked the report and the you can see the report at the link below;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0gfi4i0rpngjfq8/Final%20Report_CC%20Broadband%20Infrastructure%20Expansion%20Design%20Study_2017%2003%2024.pdf?dl=0

The letter;

Letter to Editor;
I have repeatedly tried to write an analysis of the Custer County Economic Development Corporation’s Phase 2 and Phase 3 documents that were recently released. The documents were prepared by CenterLine Solutions for the CCEDC. All of this is paid for by you, the taxpayer. And because of that, I feel like you should know how your money is being spent and because I know a little about the subject, I feel like you shouldn’t be led down the primrose path.
For the last couple years, the Custer County Economic Development Corporation has been talking about increasing the broadband availability in the county.  Their Phase 2 and Phase 3 documents were recently released.  And since the CCEDC’s plans for broadband will be partially paid for by the taxpayers of Custer County, I feel that it’s important to understand what they’re up to.
First of all, we need to understand that the CCEDC and their friends on the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) want to create a public utility (think phone company or electric company – one that has a monopoly and can charge whatever they want.)  It will probably be run by the CCEDC which could make a lot of money on the deal, whose principals stand to make lots of money on the deal.
The CCEDC spent $34K on these reports and is flashing them all over the county.  The documents are available online and you should check them and not just take my word for it.  Fair warning – their math is so unreliable it makes evaluating these documents nearly impossible.
Let’s start with the Phase 2 document.  Table 2 says that there are currently 9,328 addresses served by broadband but it also says that there are only 6,553 addresses in the county.  According to the Assessor’s Office, though, there are 9,122 parcels county-wide.  Head-scratching. . .  (The number 9,328 is calculated by adding the column in Table 2.)
If you add the column that lists the percentage served by each existing tower, you come up with 142.35%. You would think that these numbers by themselves would have been enough to put an end to the boondoggle being pitched by the CCEDC.   But, no, they either also can’t do such complex math as addition or they don’t care, they just want more money and power.
Municipal broadband is a colossal failure across the nation and just this simple math problem shows you why. If you look at the tables on pages 6, 7 and 8 of the Phase 2 document, you see this scenario played out in every table. And the bottom line of all of this is that if millions of tax dollars are spent on building sixmore towers, 870 more addresses will have access to broadband.   Access – Not Service.  Those 870 more addresses will have to pay for service – just like we all do and those services will be subsidized by additional tax money. Then many more millions of tax dollars can be pocketed by those running the utility.
And who are those people who will profit? It’s probably wrong to paint every supporter with this brush but the CCEDC members that I know about are Charles Bogle, Dale Mullen and Wilson Jarvis and they have already approached the towns and the county trying to get tax dollars to fund this fraud. And why is Commissioner Kattnig such a big supporter? And why does he get so mad when I refer to this as socialized broadband? I wouldn’t expect someone who has fed at the public trough almost his whole life to understand, but the legitimate role of government is not competing with private enterprise and using tax dollars to have an unfair advantage.
We currently have two wireless providers as well as a hard line provider (let’s ignore existing satellite). Much of the county has access to broadband with today’s technology. And that all improves dramatically in the near future.  What is on the horizon that will make anything the CCEDC can scheme completely
obsolete?
Before looking into the immediate future it is important to remember that both existing providers will add towers and improve the technology as the fiscal incentive merits. Before 2020, less than three years, 5G will deliver gigabit Internet everywhere and really, the theoretical speed could be 10 gigabits per second compared to 4G which is about 100 Megabits per second.  Much, much faster. Then there’s the satellite race. Big names like Boeing, Elon Musk, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX among others are launching satellites that will provide Terabit Internet. And this access will be every place on the planet that can see a piece of sky. Even the most remote places on earth will have this access. Google and Facebook have their own proposed solutions which involve covering the whole planet as well. As we have repeatedly seen, the competition will expand the quality and services while driving down prices. Without wasting tax dollars.
Why? Because the Free Market always, always does better than central government control. As technology improves, more and more people depend on that technology. That’s right Kommisar Kattnig, the unleashed productivity of the market does much better than command and control bureaucrats will ever do.
First, I’m astounded that the CCEDC spent $34,694 taxpayer dollars (grants don’t come from nowhere folks) with a firm that can’t get the math correct. Apparently, Centerline Solutions can’t even get the name of the company who hired them correct. Their study documents all refer to the Custer County Economic Development Board instead of corporation. Maybe the contractor thinks they’re working for a government agency instead of a private business.
Second, I’m flabbergasted that the CCEDC thinks the voters of Custer County are stupid enough to pay millions in new taxes so that a few more people will have access to Internet. Internet is a product, not a right. But, maybe, just maybe, the CCEDC has worked it all out with the sitting Commissioners and there won’t be a need for a silly vote.
Lastly, I’m dumbfounded that, in this day and age when the evidence of colossal failures of municipal Internet ventures is so readily available, any sane person would propose creating another municipal Internet venture.
Unless there’s big money for someone. And as always, follow the money. Who will benefit?

Dan Bubis
Rural Custer County