Longmont voters decided in 2013 to approve a bond that allowed Longmont to build the state’s first community-owned internet service. After ten years, NextLight is looking to the future.
“We are hoping NextLight operates into perpetuity and we continue to evolve with the marketplace and continue to invest in capacity to allow for all of those unforeseen, yet-known applications that are invariably coming,” said Valerie Dodd, executive director of NextLight.
NextLight plans to continue to reinvest in its infrastructure to make sure Longmont is always prepared for the next step in technology. Fiber does have a shelf life, Dodd said, which is around 30-40 years.
“It’s first investing in the existing network because that is the core of everything,” Dodd said.
There are about 41,000 premises in Longmont and 91% of those have fiber access, Dodd said. For new construction, NextLight makes sure they contact the developers early to build access to the local internet.
“We are not finished building. We are here to grow with the city and anybody that turns up at a new site, we’re already going to have fiber in the ground,” she said.
During the pandemic, a need to connect students to the internet became a priority for the St. Vrain School District. It partnered with NextLight to find a way to connect all students so they could continue their education. One way NextLight approaches this is through the Affordability Connectivity Program which offsets the costs of the internet through federal dollars.
NextLight and SVVSD are also working together to build a private LTE network. The network allows students — who qualify — to take home a device that allows them to connect to the internet from any location primarily in Longmont.
However, Colorado recently eliminated its restrictions on municipal internet which in prior years limited NextLight’s service area to the same footprint as Longmont’s utility service area. The lift in restrictions now opens an opportunity for NextLight to expand beyond the boundaries of the city’s utility network.
“We are open to expanding our footprint, where it makes sense. We are not using any of the initial dollars that we received. We are using money we are earning either through our own operation or if we were able to get some federal grants or some state grants,” Dodd said.
The partnership with SVVSD will not only fuel but enable NextLight to expand its service to students within the SVVSD school district.
“If and where we build outside of the community, it is for the primary focus and benefit of the St. Vrain School District and the student needs,” Dodd said.
NextLight is also considering the future needs of its clients as they connect more smart home devices to the internet such as their thermostats.
Dodd also said that NextLight is in the process of connecting with a vendor that would allow residents to increase their home’s security as well as neighborhood security by offering a security device for the front porch that would connect to the household’s NextLight internet. Several cameras are already installed in parks and in intersections which are designed to keep the community safe.
“We do really want to help our residents control their consumption of things. There are a lot of people who are energy conscious and price conscious and we want to be able to enable those devices,” Dodd said. “We are here to really improve the lives of the residents in our community.”
One of the biggest changes that customers will see sooner than later is in the way they communicate with NextLight and manage their accounts. NextLight is working with the rest of the city of Longmont to update its customer service software.
“We are trying to be easier to do business with,” Dodd said.
