As you know, Aristata Communications, formerly Colorado Central Telecom, is the only local, community-based telecom provider in our five-county service territory (Lake, Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, and Huerfano Counties), and I believe we are positioned to successfully meet the broadband needs of you, our customers, beyond the 21st Century.
When you consider the history of the Rural Electric Act back in 1936 and how rural America was electrified, I believe that we must approach rural internet connectivity, or “bridging the digital divide,” similarly. It was not “Big Power” that electrified our salt-of-the-earth forefathers (though they had a role); it was the local rural electric co-op. The electrification of our rural communities was about maintaining our unique and independent lifestyle, it was about contributing to the broader economy from “the middle of nowhere, America.”
This was true economic development before it even had a name.
Our unique, western, rural lifestyle can only economically exist by adapting to the world around us; connectivity, then, is not about connectivity itself but rather our economic resilience.
Aristata Communications is proud to pick up the torch and be a rural leader to improve connectivity and our economic resilience.
Like the Rural Electrification Act in 1936, the federal government has allocated $43 billion, with Colorado expected to receive around $800 million, to deliver high-speed internet connectivity to rural and unserved communities. In response to this once-in-a-lifetime funding opportunity, Aristata has begun designing and engineering important projects for funding in our service region.
Thank you for trusting us to be your local internet and phone service provider. If you have any questions about your speeds or service, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our local, customer care team at 719.937.7700 option 1.
Yours in service,
