After visiting with 5,600 residents, and making 277,000 connections, one message stands out, Loveland wants broadband internet, and they wanted it yesterday, Councilor John Fogle said Thursday evening.

That dream, which started about five years ago as a staff conversation among several councilors at the time, became reality as the new brand of the broadband initiative, called Pulse, was announced Thursday.

A community launch will occur later this summer. Construction will happen soon, as well.

A promotional video shown at the launch Thursday touts the Loveland-based service as “an internet service that moves our community forward… connecting us to each other and to the world. Pulse builds on the rhythm of life in Loveland. It’s a fast, reliable and affordable network.”

City officials offered a five-pillar promise regarding the new internet service, saying it will be affordable, reliable, fast, supported by excellent customer service, and will offer another choice in internet service.

The service will be offered under the city’s Department of Water and Power.

“It was over five years ago when our City Council, executive leadership and community members said, ‘What about broadband?’” said Steve Adams, city manager. He said Fogle had been key in the effort.

The desk chair workspace in downtown Loveland was packed on Thursday with current and former council members, current and former mayors, staff from the cities of Loveland, Longmont, Fort Collins and Estes Park, Thompson R2-J school district and more, all there to witness the launch of the concept and brand for broadband high-speed internet in Loveland.

“If I had a dollar for every person who asked, ‘When are you connecting to our property?’ I wouldn’t have needed to issue a bond,” Adams joked. “This is a celebration and a step closer to realizing our goals and getting our community connected.”

A six-year dream

Fogle started having conversations with former councilors Phil Farley and Ralph Trenary about broadband in 2013.

“We thought we were dreaming perhaps too big,” Fogle said. “Bringing broadband to our community is one of the biggest decisions City Council and city staff have made in the history of Loveland.”

He noted how the school district in particular has struggled with internet over the years. In 2013, as the district switched to an online testing platform for the annual standardized test, the whole system crashed and administration staff was advised to work from home because the internet couldn’t handle the number of students testing. Fogle was told by an incumbent internet company that it wasn’t interested in working with schools because it wasn’t cost-effective.

“I decided that Loveland and our kids deserve better,” he said.

He referenced Longmont’s fiber optic network, called NextLight, and the people behind it. “I picked their brains so thoroughly, they don’t want to come here anymore,” he said. “It’s because of Longmont that Loveland is getting fiber (optic internet).”

Fiber optic broadband internet is truly transformational in the mind of Marc Seter, board of education. The school district is opening a career and technology education center for middle and high school, which will offer classes in advanced robotics and manufacturing, which will not be possible without high speed reliable connectivity. The new internet will also hugely impact the programming through Thompson online, which provides curriculum and classes for students.

Construction to start

Earlier in 2019, City Council approved and issued $97 million in bonds, which sold to investors quickly, according to Brieana Reed-Harmel, Loveland municipal fiber manager. “We have a long road ahead of us, but we are ready and excited.”

The construction project, set to start in September, will be huge, as crews will head up and down every street in Loveland to install fiber optics (a glass filament thinner than a strand of hair) on streets in front of every business and residence in Loveland. It will take three to four years to complete construction, and it will be residents’ choices to sign up for the high speed internet, which is when the fiber optics will be installed to their home or business from the street.

“We will be offering internet, telephone, possibly video… It will be a robust and flexible service ready for our future,” Reed-Harmel said. She said people will be notified by email and fliers when construction is about to happen on their streets.

The $97 million will include the cost of construction, equipment, operation startups, salaries, insurance policies and more. Around 30-40 staff will be employed, per the business plan, Reed-Harmel said. Any funds accrued from the service will be used for maintenance.

Fogle said that better broadband means better health care, education, schools, libraries and better access to the worldwide economy. “And it means, we get to enjoy streaming reruns of ‘Game of Thrones,’” he added.

Overwhelmingly, people have supported and wanted municipal broadband; most wanted a choice, or something new, in internet offerings, he said.

Fogle said that back in 1925, Loveland had another big decision to make, to invest in the next new technology, electricity. “That seems to have worked out OK,” he said with a laugh.

Find out more information about Loveland’s broadband internet project at lovelandpulse.com.