Internet provider SkyWerx is building a publicly accessible wireless network at the south end of Main Avenue.
The hot spot is to be located near the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot.
“I’ll say within 30 days that whole area will be lit up,” said Jeffrey Gavlinski, director of sales and marketing for the Pagosa Springs-based company.
The project is just one of several local efforts to expand broadband infrastructure around the region.
Long-term, the network could be extended up Main Avenue all the way to the La Plata County Fairgrounds, Gavlinski said. SkyWerx also has plans for its own wireless Internet at Durango-La Plata County Airport and Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort – places visitors expect to be able to access the Internet.
Forest Lakes, the development near Vallecito, has approved plans to bring in broadband. The first phase should be done before winter, and the second phase will be completed next year, Gavlinski said.
The plan was recently approved by Forest Lakes’ board. SkyWerx is doing the Forest Lakes project with AlignTec, a local Internet-service provider that is responsible for the “last mile” connection into homes.
SkyWerx was named one of the 2014 Colorado Companies to Watch, a program backed by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and the Edward Lowe Foundation.
Among the company’s customers, Gavlinski said, are Adams State College, the city of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County, the city of Durango and La Plata County and prominent businesses such as Parelli Natural Horsemanship, Ska Brewing Co. and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
SkyWerx’s expansions follow the completion of the Southwest Colorado Access Network. A $4 million project to expand broadband infrastructure, SCAN was funded by $3 million from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and $1 million in matching grants from local governments.
“There is a lot more fiber in our region than there was before,” said Ed Morlan, executive director of the Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado.
Providers including FastTrack Communications and Cedar Networks are piggybacking on the SCAN infrastructure, Morlan said.
“Several of them are expanding because the infrastructure’s there to build on top of,” he said.
FastTrack is working to reach rural areas west of Durango.
“We’re working on expanding our fiber infrastructure to Dolores and Mancos and ultimately expanding broadband to those communities,” said John Monday, FastTrack’s director of network engineering and operations.
FastTrack is also expanding its routes into downtown Durango and Mercury Village to increase reliability, Monday said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
