Through strategic planning, public-private partnerships, and coordinated investment, PSCDC helped transform a largely volunteer-driven broadband initiative into a locally managed infrastructure program, expanding opportunities for better connectivity, provider investment, and long-term economic growth.
In a rural, mountainous community like Archuleta County, reliable internet access is more than a convenience. It supports businesses, schools, healthcare, public safety, remote work, and everyday life. Yet for years, limited infrastructure and difficult terrain left many residents and businesses without access to the broadband service they needed.
Expanding coverage required more than convincing individual providers to serve isolated neighborhoods. It required a coordinated approach to infrastructure, funding, and regional connectivity.
Through the Archuleta County Broadband Services Management Office (BSMO), the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) helped turn that challenge into a long-term economic development strategy.
From individual projects to a coordinated strategy
Local efforts to improve broadband connectivity began well before PSCDC established the current management structure.
Early work relied heavily on volunteers, technical advisors, local government support, and partnerships with internet service providers. A 2018 broadband study examined the county's connectivity gaps and outlined an approach that combined fiber infrastructure, wireless technology, and shared facilities to reach more residents and businesses.
The study recognized a fundamental challenge: Archuleta County's mountainous terrain, dispersed population, and limited customer density made traditional broadband expansion difficult and expensive.
When PSCDC Executive Director Emily Lashbrooke revisited the initiative in 2021, conversations with major employers and local businesses reinforced the need for more dependable connectivity. Broadband was essential to business operations, employee recruitment, education, and the community's ability to compete economically.
Building on the earlier groundwork, Emily helped strengthen the Broadband Services Management Office and establish a five-year strategic approach focused on expanding the middle-mile network, improving reliability, and coordinating infrastructure investment.
Rather than pursuing isolated improvements, the strategy established a framework for long-term growth.
Creating infrastructure that providers can share
The approach centers on a distinction that isn't always visible to internet customers: the difference between the infrastructure that carries broadband across a community and the final connections that reach individual homes and businesses.
PSCDC does not provide retail internet service. Instead, the BSMO helps develop and manage the shared infrastructure that private internet service providers use to expand their networks.
This includes the middle mile, the fiber backbone that connects major network routes, public facilities, and provider infrastructure.
By developing and coordinating these shared assets, PSCDC and community partners help reduce some of the barriers providers face when expanding into areas that are expensive or difficult to serve.
The model also supports a long-term financial strategy. As the network expands and more providers lease community fiber and facilities, the Broadband Office expects to generate sufficient revenue to cover ongoing operations and maintenance, eventually becoming financially self-sustaining.
Building a stronger local network
Over several years, PSCDC and broadband partners have expanded community fiber assets, improved network connections, and established two carrier-neutral locations (CNLs).
These facilities provide secure, climate-controlled locations where multiple internet and telecommunications providers can house equipment and connect to network infrastructure.
The facilities support a more flexible network by creating shared connection points rather than requiring every provider to develop separate facilities.
By 2025, PSCDC had negotiated agreements supporting two internet service providers at the carrier-neutral facilities, creating additional opportunities for service expansion.
The Broadband Office also coordinates fiber installation with other infrastructure projects. During downtown reconstruction, for example, PSCDC helped arrange additional conduit installation to accommodate future network expansion without repeatedly disturbing newly completed improvements.
These investments build capacity for future needs while making better use of existing public infrastructure.
Expanding opportunities for private investment
The community broadband strategy also supports private providers seeking to extend service into underserved neighborhoods.
Working with internet service providers, utilities, local governments, and regional partners, PSCDC helps coordinate infrastructure, identify service gaps, and align expansion efforts with available funding.
Recent projects include major fiber expansions by Visionary Broadband in northern Pagosa Lakes, including the Hatcher area, Chris Mountain II, and Village Lake, and by Clear Networks in southern Pagosa Lakes neighborhoods such as Meadows, Timber Ridge, and Alpha.
Together, these provider-led projects represent opportunities to reach more than 1,500 eligible addresses in areas where broadband expansion has historically presented substantial challenges.
The Broadband Office helps connect these investments with the larger community network while providers remain responsible for customer connections and service delivery.
PSCDC has also helped establish a regional broadband partnership, bringing internet providers, utilities, workforce organizations, and government agencies together to coordinate projects, reduce duplication, and address shared challenges.
Strengthening reliability beyond county boundaries
Expanding local infrastructure represents only part of the challenge.
Archuleta County has historically depended on limited regional connections, leaving essential communications vulnerable when damaged fiber lines interrupt service.
Recognizing that vulnerability, PSCDC and regional partners have pursued additional routes into and out of the county, including a major fiber connection along Highway 151 and a broader regional network known as the Alpine Loop.
The effort brings together Archuleta County, La Plata County, La Plata Electric Association, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and state and regional partners.
Some connections are already in place, while additional construction, access agreements, and network activation remain underway.
The work represents an important step toward reducing dependence on a single regional connection and improving long-term reliability.
Building capacity for the future
The transformation of Archuleta County's broadband infrastructure extends beyond fiber installation.
Through the BSMO, PSCDC has helped establish a locally coordinated approach to managing infrastructure, bringing providers together, pursuing funding opportunities, and planning for future growth.
The strategy continues to evolve as new technology, provider investments, and regional connections create additional opportunities. As the network matures, revenue from infrastructure leasing is expected to support a financially self-sustaining Broadband Office.
What began as a largely volunteer-driven effort to address inadequate internet access has grown into a coordinated broadband infrastructure program supporting connectivity, private investment, and economic resilience across Archuleta County.
By strengthening the infrastructure behind the service, PSCDC and community partners are helping create the conditions for a more connected and economically competitive rural community.