After completing a feasibility study this summer, Blue River is exploring the possibility of bringing broadband and fiber-optic internet service to its residents.

Just south of Breckenridge, Blue River is one of the more rural parts of Summit County with a year-round population estimated at just less than 900 people. Bringing broadband and fiber-optic service to Blue River would help modernize the town’s internet services, which currently lag behind, Town Administrator Michelle Eddy said.

“It’s a moving target,” Eddy said. “But we’re working with Breckenridge and the county to address the southern end of the county and see what we can do to bring broadband and fiber to Blue River. We’re highly underserved.”

Blue River began exploring broadband and fiber-optic by using funds that became available in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 to hire the consultant, NEO Connect, to complete a feasibility study, Eddy said.

The Blue River Board of Trustees received a presentation on the results of the feasibility study earlier this summer. That study determined that installation of a fiber “backbone” through the community would cost an estimated $13 million, Mayor Toby Babich wrote in last month’s town newsletter.

That amount of money “may seem out of reach,” Babich said, “but we believe with the right funding and partnership we can move forward with this project.”

Eddy said the cost estimates provided by the consultants were rough and ranged from $7 million to $24 million for the installation of fiber-optic service, depending on how it is provided. For example, installing internet services aerially via utility poles, she said, would be much cheaper than underground installation, which would require trenching.

One of the biggest challenges for the town is that Federal Communications Commission internet speed maps show Blue River as “served” even though speed tests show that upload speeds in town do not actually meet standards, Eddy said.

At present, Comcast is the only internet service provider in Blue River. Cell service in Blue River is also lacking, creating a “chicken and egg problem,” Eddy said, because many internet service providers won’t come into a town without better cell service, while cell service providers often will only make improvements in areas with fiber.

Nonetheless, Eddy said, the town believes that broadband and fiber-optic service could become a reality in Blue River if the town can forge the right partnerships and fund part of the project through grants.

The town plans to apply for more than $40 million in funding for internet service projects available through the state, Eddy said, while also building partnerships with Breckenridge and the county government.

“It’s all very preliminary at this point,” she said. “We’re applying and crossing our fingers.”