High-Speed Internet — Elk Falls Ranch

High-Speed Internet for our Community

Background

For a long time, EFR property owners, along with neighboring property owners, have expressed dissatisfaction with lack of broadband (high-speed) internet in our neighborhoods. We are now able to resolve this issue!

In late 2019, a Broadband Initiative Committee was formed. The goal of the Committee was to create a partnership with nearby neighborhoods (Elk Falls Ranch, S. Elk Creek Road, Woodside, Mountain View and Douglass Ranch), Staunton State Park and an internet service provider (South Park Telephone) in order to apply for grant funds from the State of Colorado Broadband Deployment Fund.

South Park Telephone (SPT) (Now doing business as Highline.) was chosen to be our Internet Service Provider (ISP) grant partner as they were looking to expand up 285 from Bailey and were successful in receiving grant awards to bring fiber technology to Silverheels Ranch HOA in Fairplay and Burland Ranchettes in Bailey. SPT is familiar and successful with the Broadband Grant process and completed construction and installation for Silverheels ahead of schedule. Burland is under construction. Additionally, SPT has been responsive, helpful and easy to work with to date.

We believe that fiber optic technology such as Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) is the desired technology to ensure long-term access to a robust and advanced communication network delivering broadband speeds up to 1 GB (1,000 Mbps). This is well above the FCC definition of broadband - 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

The first step in the process was to conduct an engineering and feasibility study to determine the design and cost associated with a fiber optic build-out. The fiber design was required and submitted, along with cost, as part of the grant application. In brief, what we learned from the Study is:

1. The cost will be $3,664,847.70 to provide service to Staunton State Park and all four neighborhoods. Note: this is NOT what residents need to pay. South Park Telephone and the grant award will cover the greatest portion of the cost. (Note - March 2024: due to delays related to State restructuring and CORE electric increasing the cost to upgrade/replace poles, the cost of the project has significantly increased. This does not impact residents. Highline is absorbing most of this expense.)

2. The route will start in Pine Junction, run along 285 into the project area with 5 legs. Click here for route map:

Mount Evans into Woodside,
S. Parker Road into Mountain View Lakes
S. Elk Creek Road, into Staunton and Elk Falls Ranch
From Corner of Ella Road and Hwy 126 (Pine Valley Road), north on Hwy 285 to S. Hwy 285 Frontage Road and then east of Douglas Ranch Road

3. The project is mostly an aerial build, strung on CORE (IREA) poles and will follow the power footprint. If power to your dwelling is above ground, then the fiber will be run above ground. If power to your dwelling is buried, then fiber will also be buried. Click here for map outlining aerial vs buried cable routes.

To make a long story short, we eventually won a grant during the Summer 2021 grant cycle. SPT was awarded $2.4 million to bring fiber optic high-speed internet to our neighborhoods. As mentioned, the total cost of the project is over $3.6 million. The difference between the grant award and the total project cost will mostly be covered by SPT, with a small portion coming from residents who commit to purchasing service and pay a $200 installation fee. (It’s important to highlight that $200 for installation is an amazing deal!!)

Pricing

Monthly service costs with SPT will typically be less or similar to what we pay for our various services now. There is tiered pricing depending on how much speed you purchase and there are price discounts if more than 400 out of 796 property owners sign up. Additionally, we will be able to purchase unlimited phone service for $29/month! Click here for pricing details.

Current Plan

Much of the work will be done concurrently with construction crews for each area, however each area will have a different start date. Click here for Tentative Phase Build-out Plan. Click here for Route Map.

Update February 2024

Highline expects to start construction May 2024, hook up the first customers by the end of June 2025 and add in 200 homes every 30-45 days!

Highline is still in the permit phase. They have received the permit to bore Highway 285 at Parker Road and the active cabinet site. As soon as we get to consistent, above freezing daily temperatures, you will see crews potholing the existing utilities along Hwy 285 at Parker Road, as well as, the site work for the cabinet location close to Elk Creek Elementary. They are currently working with CORE through the aerial make-ready process and communicating with Park County regarding their approved placement methods and permitting within the project.

Clarification of terms:

-Potholing refers to drilling 4" holes through the asphalt and dirt until they can physicially see utilities. From there, that information is submitted to their engineers who will map the location of the utilities and submit to CDOT for approval. The temperature has to be above freezing as pressurized water is used during the process.

-Active Cabinet refers to a powered cabinet which pushes power to a passive cabinet which splits the fiber into 32 fibers to power 32 homes. There will be a total of four active cabinets - one at Mt. Evans and Nova, Parker and Nova, Staunton State Park and the one at Elk Creek Elementary. There will be as many passive cabinets as needed.

Update April 2023

Construction was set to begin in June 2022, however, Highline/SPT did not receive a contract from the State until late September 2022. Highline is now in receipt of a fully executed agreement from the State of Colorado allowing the project to begin. In mid-January 2023, Highline's internal engineering team completed their pole collection of approximately 1535 poles and submitted the data to CORE Electric. The CORE Electric Team is progressing through the field inspection process and hopes to complete the field work by mid-April.

Meanwhile, the CORE Team is working on the make-ready recommendations (pole replacements, rearrangements etc.). Upon receiving the make-ready recommendations and fees associated with CORE performing the necessary work allowing Highline to attach filbert to the poles, CORE will begin the make ready work.

The Highline Team is in communication with Jefferson County and Park County on securing the permits for the underground segments of the Project. Therefore, based on the recent communication from CORE, below is high-level project timeline, Highline will tighten up the dates upon securing permits and completing the make-ready.

Highline Commences Construction: 05/17/23

Highline begins to turn-up Customers: 09/05/23

Highline Completes Construction: 06/15/24

Highline Completes Customer Activations: 09/15/24

David Shipley, COO, from Highline/SPT, gave an update at the Woodside Annual Meeting on 4/29/23. Notes from that meeting have been summarized and are available to review. Click here to read interesting details of what’s soon to come.

What to Expect for Equipment

Highline has a new brochure which includes some simple descriptions of the equipment that will be used during the installation phase. All the equipment is very small and non-obtrusive. See below for Page 1 and Page 2 of the brochure for what to expect at your home. Additionally, you'll be able to personalize your WiFi, set parental controls and monitor all your devices with the ease of an app.

Page 1 Page 2

Next step for property owners:

Submit commitments! We encourage property owners that have yet to sign up for service to complete the necessary information online - Commitment Form and $200 Payment or to contact SPT at 719.837.6400 for more information.

The more people that sign up, the better the pricing will be for everyone. Also, note that if you decide you want fiber optic internet after construction is completed, the $200 installation fee no longer applies. The cost to bring fiber to your dwelling could be over $1,000 depending on how long your driveway is and how far you are from the main fiber line.

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Benefits of bringing Fiber to our community

Is fiber-optic internet service better? YES! Aside from being much faster and more reliable vs. cable internet or DSL, fiber Internet has other major benefits that blow all other providers out of the water. For example:

Speed - Fiber-optic internet speed can reach 1 Gbps. That’s 40 times faster than the services currently offered in our area (DSL or satellite). As a quick example, the list below shows how long it takes to download a two-hour movie on fiber-optic vs. other services.
- Fiber-optic internet speed 1 Gbps: 40 seconds
- Cable internet speed 100 Mbps: 7 minutes
- DSL speed 25 Mbps: 30 minutes
- 4G LTE speed 35 Mbps: 25 minutes
Fiber internet is known as symmetrical: the same upload speed as download speed. That makes sharing photos and files easier and more reliable than ever.
Latency - Internet latency is the time it takes for a request to go from a source to a destination on the internet (measured in milliseconds). If you have a satellite internet service provider, you've endured the noticeable delay after you attempt to visit a URL. Your staring at static page, then all of a sudden, the page loads all at once. Satellite services send large packets of data to space and back, which accounts for this delay. Although they can advertise fast speeds, the service seems MUCH slower due to latency. This very obvious if you've ever tried to do voice-over-IP with a satellite service; there is just enough of a delay to throw off your conversation.

Although latency exists in every network due to distance and speed, fiber's latency is mostly undetectable. With fiber, latency is not an issue. Take a look at the average latency results below:
- Fiber-optic latency: 10ms or less
- Cable latency: 100ms or less
- DSL latency: 100ms or less
- Satellite latency: 500-700ms
Accessibility - Every year, the Internet becomes more and more important to our everyday lives on an individual and societal level. Fiber-optic speed provides enough bandwidth to access these emerging online services simultaneously:
- Smart Homes and Security: Smart home technology is one of the fastest growing markets connecting every aspect of your home so it runs seamlessly from your smart device (speakers, TVs, thermostats, plugs, light automation, video doorbells, refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers and more).
- Independent Living for the Aging or Disabled: Aging in place and independent living are quickly becoming more important to us as the population ages. The most affordable home automation products are cloud-based and Internet-dependent. A wide array of products from voice-activated devices to panic alarms can have a profound impact on quality-of-life for senior citizens, the disabled, and the people who care for them.
- Telecommuting: Fast access to the Internet makes it possible for professionals to work from home. Symmetrical fiber speeds make uploading content to/for work just as easy as it would be sitting in the office.
- Education: Aside from the obvious access to information for studying, children and their parents can be engaged in the educational process through educational web portals. These portals provide an interface to communicate with teachers and administrators, real-time access to assignments and grades, and numerous educational resources.
Reliability - We've all had it happen. You're watching The Incredibles with the kids and suddenly Bob Parr's face gets blocky and he freezes in mid air. Is it a diabolical freeze ray? No, it's your slow internet connection.
The truth is that your internet connection should be fast enough to stream video without interruption, but peak traffic congests the bandwidth. That's where the benefits of fiber-optic internet get obvious. Fiber-optics can handle more users and more data at consistently higher speeds.
Another bonus - fiber-optic internet doesn't need energized lines, so it's not as prone to outages. As long as the fiber-optic cable stays intact, it can keep delivering your bits and bytes even when the lights are out; even through those heavy snow storms that come in from the south!
Increased Property Value - Studies show that the impact of fiber on property values can be more than 3-6%. On a $600,000 home, that’s a $18K-$28K boost! Today, people are shopping for more than just curb appeal. They’re looking for a quality Internet connection as well.
Supporting Links:
Fiber Broadband Association, Computer World, Ting Blog, Fios Verizon
No Throttling - Like a highway at rush hour, DSL and satellite connections get jammed during peak traffic hours. They simply can’t keep pace with our mushrooming internet needs. Internet providers use “throttling” to prevent this. At peak times, your ISP may lower your speed from 25 Mbps to 10 Mbps or lower to ration their service. Fiber- optic internet speed doesn’t throttle because it’s less susceptible to overload.
Connecting with Multiple Devices - Gone are the days of a single home computer. We now have multiple devices in our homes - laptops PCs, tablets, phones, smart speakers, and devices like smart locks and thermostats. As our internet use increases, our need for reliable and fast data transmission does too.

Fiber-optic's steady signal, low signal loss, and ten times more bandwidth means we can connect with multiple tablets, laptops, and several phones at once. Even with different people streaming music and video simultaneously, fiber-optics can handle the load.
Increased Mobile Phone Coverage - If you use a cell phone in our beautiful mountain communities, you're familiar with using network extenders to increase the coverage of your phone. With the steady signal, less signal loss, and additional bandwidth of a fiber-optic connection, the WIFI strength that powers your network extender is greatly increased. Your network extender will be more successful in increasing your phone's coverage.
Future Proof: - Global internet traffic has exploded. Cisco predicts in it’s Visual Networking Index White Paper, that today’s internet traffic will increase threefold over the next five years. In fact, Internet speeds of just two or more years ago, are no longer acceptable for today’s increasing demands. Not only is fiber the fastest service available today (by a longshot), but fiber has the capability of future-proofing through dark fiber. Dark fiber, optical fibers that are part of a fiber cable but are not currently being used, can be a great asset. When new technology becomes available that requires more data transmission, fiber-optic lines may already be able to accommodate the unforeseen demands of the future.
Higher Quality TV - Just bought a 4K TV or thinking about buying one? Sales of Ultra High Definition 4K TVs reached over 108 million in 2019. The resolution standard (8k) is already available. Those TVs pack four times more pixels into the same real estate, which makes for much crisper pictures. But it also needs lot more bandwidth from your internet connection.

DSL, satellite, and even cable connections struggle, at times, to deliver 4K internet streaming. Fiber-optic internet service won’t even bat an eye. A fiber-optic connection running at even a sub-optimal 500 Mbps should have no trouble streaming high-quality 4K TV and movies.
Healthier - You may have heard about the race for 5G internet access. Carriers like Verizon and AT&T are hustling to blanket the nation with new, lightning-fast service. The World Health Organization (WHO) says there’s no reason to fear 5G wireless internet signals because they can’t penetrate human skin. But hundreds of scientists and medical professionals recently petitioned the WHO, claiming 5G will boost the potential for cancer. Fiber-optic signals remain trapped in their cables, so they don’t carry those fears.
Community Improvement - Fiber-optic Internet doesn’t only improve homes, it’s great for communities too. Fiber-ready areas are more attractive to businesses, especially those that rely on the fastest Internet speeds. More businesses means more jobs – and a better economy. And fiber Internet access can also improve public services, including healthcare, safety and education.
Telemedicine - Telemedicine allows health care professionals to evaluate, diagnose, and even treat patients remotely. Much faster fiber-optic internet speeds make telemedicine more reliable, thanks to higher resolution video chats. It can help the elderly and those with disabilities live more independently as well.
Video Conferencing: - Video streaming uses a huge amount of bandwidth. On average, HD video streaming uses 6 Mbps upstream bandwidth per user.
Better Gameplay - For gamers, if you love playing Fortnite or League of Legends, you may already know fiber-optic internet speed is the holy grail of gaming connections. It’s not that gaming uses mega bandwidth, in fact, compared to high-quality video streaming, gaming sips a tiny fraction of the data at less than 1 Mbps.
So what’s the problem? Consistency. A tiny hiccup at the wrong moment can get you killed in your game. There are lots of little hiccups in a satellite or DSL connection all the time. Thanks to fiber-optic internet, the smooth and constant flow of data means whenever you twitch your mouse hand, the game obeys.

Call to Action for Property Owners

Please submit commitments! This is an amazing opportunity! We encourage property owners that have yet to sign up for service to complete the necessary information online: Commitment Form and $200 Payment or contact SPT/Highline at 719.837.6400 for more information.

For updates/Information:

Please join our Facebook Discussion Group for the most up-to-date news: Staunton Area Broadband Initiative

Contact Bev Long, Committee Chair and Elk Falls Champion at 720-633-2454 or bevlong2555@gmail.com for information or questions.

Neighborhood Champions:

Woodside 1 - Kimberlee Martin hometocoloradore@gmail.com or 303-888-7458

Woodside 2,3,4 - Pam Hyer lovethemtns2@gmail.com or 303-916-9873

Woodside 5,6 - Bev Livingston bevlivi49@gmail.com or 720-202-8335

Mountain View Lakes - Ron Bich ronaldjbich@q.com or 720-473-2801

Douglass Ranch - Pam Senjem pamsenjem@yahoo.com or 303-910-5735

Grant Application

Summer 2021 applications can be found at: Broadband Grant Applications. Our Application Number is S-2021-19: South Park Telephone – Staunton State Park Visitor Center