In 2002, the small town of Glenwood Springs, Colo. installed a fiber-optic network that provides super fast broadband to its subscribers. Although the fiber backbone of the Glenwood Springs Community Broadband Network does not reach every home, the wireless network operating on the backbone offers high-speed access to all city residents.

Funding: Free Wi-Fi is located at hot spots around town. Access to the fiber-based wireless network costs an average of $40-50 depending on the service provider. Wired fiber services, used mostly by businesses, cost around $80-110, according to a city official. The initial fiber deployment cost about $3 million. These prices are stunningly low for fiber service. The town kept costs down by training its workers to pull fiber through its existing electrical infrastructure to avoid having to lay fiber in a new conduit.

Management: The broadband network is built, owned, and operated entirely by the Glenwood Springs Electric Department. The town contracted with various private companies during the construction process, and with Motorola to design the wireless network running on the fiber backbone. The city offers its own broadband service at retail price, but also resells access to the open access network to other providers at wholesale price. For a complete list of resellers, click here.

Coverage: Wired fiber access is mostly built out to businesses in the area, but wireless extends the broadband service to all areas of town. A total of about 5000 subscribers regularly use the network. In places where Qwest offers DSL service, a combination of DSL and the city's fiber offers higher speeds that DSL alone. The city supplies T1 services to households outside city limits where fiber is not available.

Quality of service: Wired fiber offers an average of 20Mbps download and upload speeds. Because of the mountainous region, wireless is sometimes unreliable. Local wireless providers advertise an average of about 1.5Mbps, which is still quite a fast connection. The city has built out fiber to some higher altitudes to improve wireless coverage.

State laws: Colorado law requires all municipalities who wish to offer broadband service to hold public hearings to ensure that they have a fiscally sound business plans for their projects. It also requires them to comply with the same state and federal "fair play" laws that private providers must follow.

About Glenwood Springs: With a population of under 9000 residents, Glenwood Springs is located in rural Colorado. According to city officials, the town is 4.8 square miles large, with a population of about 8,600 residents. Its median household income in 1999 was around $44,000.

Additional information: Learn more about the Glenwood Springs Community Broadband Network:

• GSCBN website
• List of wireless hot spots around town
• More on the Colorado state law on municipal broadband - Glenwood Springs Post Independent
• Mountain Wi-Fi - Rocky Mountain News