HB 18-1099 Summary

• Amends Colorado law to establish criteria for the Broadband Deployment Board when evaluating broadband expansion projects into unserved areas.

• Grants each incumbent telecommunications provider in an unserved area a right of first refusal to implement a broadband project before the board approves a nonincumbent provider's application.

• Requires any incumbent provider proposing a competing project to commit to deploying broadband within one year of the applicant's submission, with downstream and upstream speeds equal to or faster than the applicant's proposed speeds.

• Requires the incumbent provider's cost per household to be equal to or less than the cost indicated in the applicant's proposed project.

• Takes effect August 8, 2018, and applies to all broadband deployment applications submitted on or after the effective date.