Solutions To Niwot’s Web Woes Varied
Residents Need To Carefully Consider Choices 

The lack of access to developing telecommunication technology has long been a source of complaint for Niwot area residents.  Many residents have voiced their interest in high-speed Internet access and additional telephone services.  But as the old adage says, be careful what you wish for.  

Not only does a solution seem to be in the apparent future, there may in fact be more than one.  The Niwot Community Association (NCA), in conjunction with an ad hoc committee of residents, conducted a survey to determine the interest level in improved telephone service and additional services such as DSL, a wireless broadband network or a fiber optic network.  

Of the 1,200 surveys sent to local residents, over 250 responded.  And of the 250 responses, over 94 percent were interested in high-speed Internet access.  The NCA plans to use these responses to work with companies to develop a solution.

“The survey showed that over 72 percent of those responding spend over $110 monthly on telephone, cable, movie rentals and Internet access,” said Jerry Sinor, president of the NCA board of directors.  Along with several other resources contacted by the NCA, Sinor has been working with Mesa Networks, located in Denver, to determine the possibility of developing a wireless broadband architecture.  

In addition to the work of the NCA, the Niwot Telecommunications Cooperative is in the process of completing a similar survey and is finding similar results.  “The responses are overwhelmingly positive,” said Charlie Kelly, president of American Broadband in Niwot.    

The co-op would need between 1,000 and 1,500 investors each paying an initial $5,000 fee.  The co-op would then work in partnership with American Broadband to develop a fiber optic network.  However, the co-op would be set-up as a for-profit limited liability partnership that would allow members to share in the tax advantages and credits of the partnership.  

Each of the proposed solutions has its advantages and disadvantages and each comes with a variety of development and monthly costs.  A wireless network would allow for a quick and relatively low-cost development, but requires line-of-sight access between cell towers and rooftop equipment at the residential or commercial site.  The service is primarily focused on high-speed Internet access offering 250Kbps to residential customers and up to 5Mbps to commercial customers.

Fiber optic networks offer high bandwidth capacity, have no distance limitations and can provide more of the current and developing services.  The fiber optic network is the most expensive to develop at $8 million.  Internet access typically runs between 512Kbps and 1.5Mbps.

The cable modem architecture uses existing CATV lines.  While this would allow for a faster development, it is expensive to develop 2-way traffic, bandwidth is shared, and upstream bandwith is limited.

DSL can be run on current copper wiring with an average speed 25 times faster than a standard analog modem.  However, speed is relative to distance and is limited by existing equipment.  With Qwest Communications’ recent proposal to expand the central office switch located on Niwot Road, many residents had hoped new services would be part of the expansion.

However, according to Edie Ortega, the Qwest district manager for northern Colorado, the new building will be used to house “additional equipment for future needs, power equipment and a back-up generator,” that will “meet the demands for the next seven to 10 years.”  The expansion would not meet Niwot’s need for increased Internet access.  After hearing the concerns of local residents at a recent public meeting, Qwest is now considering other options to facilitate the expansion.

While a solution to the web woes many local residents face seems to be on the horizon, a clear directive is still lacking.  With so many choices available, residents need to make their concerns and desires clear to provide the best possible service, not only for the immediate future, but for the long term as well.  As Ortega says, “Competition in the marketplace is good for the consumer.”