Conexon Connect, the internet service provider created and managed by rural fiber-optic network design and construction management leader Conexon, has been selected by Mountain View Electric Association (MVEA) to provide access to reliable, affordable fiber broadband service for the Colorado cooperative’s more than 51,000 members.
The electric cooperative is teaming up with Conexon Connect to launch and deploy a nearly 5,800-mile fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network that will reach 100% of the co-op’s members in the portions of the eight counties served in central Colorado.
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“The partnership between Conexon Connect and Mountain View Electric Association is one that will greatly impact the community, and we’re excited to get started transforming life with high-speed internet for so many Coloradans,” Conexon Partner Randy Klindt said. “Our fiber network will open many new doors for communications, education, commerce, and growth. We are excited to see where these opportunities take MVEA members.”
MVEA’s $190 million fiber network is expected to be completed within five to six years. The first customers are anticipated to be connected in 2Q 2022.
“It seems fitting that as we celebrate 80 years of powering possibilities through decades of innovation and industry changes, that we announce our plans to bring fiber-to-the-home broadband to our co-op communities to bridge the digital divide,” MVEA CEO Jim Herron said.
The fiber-optic network will offer members access to symmetrical (same upload and download speeds) gigabit internet capabilities – among the fastest and most robust in the nation. Additionally, it will provide reliable, clear phone service and enable the benefits of smart grid capabilities to the electrical infrastructure, including improved power outage response times, better load balancing, more efficient electricity delivery and others.
“As I drove home the other day from Mountain View Electric Association, I took the direct route past Twin Lakes and over Independence Pass,” Conexon Partner Jonathan Chambers said. “As always, I marveled at the scenery. And I marveled at the poles, transmission and distribution lines that connect rural Colorado to the electric grid. Using the tools and machines of the 1930s and 1940s, our parents and grandparents built electric networks all across this state. Today, we can build a fiber network anywhere there’s an electric line. The announcement today is historic – MVEA is building the largest fiber-to-the-home network in Colorado. We are thrilled to be part of it.”
The partnership with Mountain View Electric Association follows recent broadband expansion announcements in Georgia and Missouri in which multiple rural electric cooperatives have announced partnerships with Conexon Connect. To date, Connect is working with eight cooperatives to build state-of-the-art FTTH networks that will deliver access to high-speed internet to more than 200,000 rural Americans. New partnerships continue to be announced as the Connect footprint grows nationwide.
Conexon Connect participated as part of Conexon’s Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium, a bidding entity awarded over $1.1 billion through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction to deliver broadband service at the gigabit (highest service level) tier. The Connect awards encompass dozens of electric co-op territories throughout 10 states. The ambitious initiatives will deliver lightning-fast symmetrical broadband service to millions of Americans – fiber to 100% of rural homes and businesses in all the territories awarded in the RDOF auction. The company’s intent is to partner with the electric cooperatives serving those awarded territories.
Conexon and Conexon Connect work exclusively with electric cooperatives with a commitment to serving 100% of co-op members with fiber broadband. With its clients, the company has designed more than 100,000 miles of fiber, builds more than 30,000 miles per year and has connected nearly 500,000 rural Americans to world-class broadband.
