~Anne Boswell

(La Junta, CO) -- High-speed fiber internet is closer to reaching Southeast Colorado homes in unserved and underserved areas.  SECOM, along with its parent company Southeast Colorado Power, has been preparing areas to receive service soon.

SECOM Engineering Manager Scott Herman explained that the work has been completed from Wiley to Hasty and is now being tested.  Fort Lyon is another area on Highway 50 that is undergoing construction.  The timeline for getting fiber installed and turned on in a home starts with replacing poles, installing the fiber, transporting electronics, testing, and finally, the installation process to the home.

Herman said it’s been rewarding work to see it come along.

“We’ve started um, actually hanging fiber, we’ve got a lot of make-ready that was done for the poles which has been very positive to the electric companies around the area, because we’re upgrading infrastructure for power companies as we come through and that was part of the process when we were doing the estimates for the grant.”

The nearly $ 12 million in grants was awarded to SECOM through a partnership with the Southern Colorado Economic Development District.  They are matching grants, and the work must be completed by December of 2026 as a condition of the grant.

The communities of Cheraw, Sugar City, Ordway, Crowley, and Olney Springs will be part of the project. 

Herman said bringing fiber to rural Southeast Colorado will be a double win.

“So it is a positive thing, not only are we bringing fiber to people who don’t have it or in some cases don’t even have any services or very limited services. We’re bringing high speed internet to those people.”

The dual gain brings better infrastructure by replacing power poles to support the addition of fiber, and it brings high-speed internet to rural Colorado.

###