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OPERATION: LINK UP |
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Bridging the Digital Divide In Colorado |
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Operation Link Up—Silverton Gap Briefing |
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A gap in the fiber optic infrastructure of SW Colorado is centered on Silverton. Had Qwest completed the fiber build to Silverton by 2005 only a 21 mile section north to Ouray would have remained. Instead, a 37 mile gap exists in one of the state’s main North-South road and power supply corridors.
The implications of this gap go beyond Silverton and affect surrounding communities. One example is the routing of regional data, such as sending an email from Durango to Montrose. The geographical distance is only around 100 miles, but fiber routing can be much farther. Data can go through Albuquerque, New Mexico, Grand Junction and Denver Colorado. The difference in time may can be from 20 to 100 milliseconds or more per data transaction. That quickly adds up to hours, days and weeks of waiting time for consumers, depending on the volume of regional data being interchanged. |
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1: SW Colorado FIBER Infrastructure |
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2: SW Colorado POWER Infrastructure |
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Slide 2 is a similar view of the regional power infrastructure of SW Colorado. Internet bandwidth needs closely follows consumer power demand. There’s considerable benefits in using existing power right-of-ways for fiber optic infrastructure.
Operation Linkup is pursuing a number of different strategies in its efforts to bridge the fiber optic divide in Silverton for the benefit of SW Colorado.
In addition to pressing Qwest to meet their 2005 obligation for completion of the 16 miles of fiber optic line from Cascade Creek to Silverton, we are working with a number of entities and organizations to fill the fiber gap. Direct fiber optic connections with Durango, Ouray, Ophir and Lake City are all being explored with the goal of improving regional interconnectivity, data speeds and available bandwidth at a lower cost. |