Fiber connection slated from Cortez to Rico

Fiber connection slated from Cortez to Rico

May 19, 2001

Some of the more remote areas in Montezuma County will soon be as digitally connected as the rest of the county. Farmers Telephone Company, a locally owned telecommunications company that serves the Pleasant View, Cahone and Yellow Jacket area, is planning to lay a fiber-optic cable from Taylor Creek to Rico along Highway 145 this summer.

The fiber will connect to CenturyTel and Rico Telephone Company’s existing fiber and complete a fiber route between Cortez and Telluride.

According to Farmers, the fiber will be used to provide advanced telecommunications services to its customers in the Priest Gulch area, which will include a digital subscriber line that is expected to be completed by September of 2001.

Qwest, Rico Telephone Company and CenturyTel are also planning to use the fiber to transport voice and data services.

"When the project is complete, Rico and Telluride will no longer be isolated if the network connecting them to the outside world goes down," said John Van Cleve, general manager of Farmers Telephone. The line will also be used to implement the Multi-Use Network project to provide high speed data services to government and non-profit agencies throughout Colorado.

The proposed cable route is within previously disturbed rights of way along Highway 145. Farmers said the cable will be trenched or plowed in the shoulder of the road, and disturbances are expected to be minimal.

Comments or concerns about the project should be addressed by June 1 to Farmers Telephone Company, P.O. Box 369, Pleasant View, CO, 81331 or at 970-562-4211.

To comment on the portions of the project that cross U.S. Forest Service land, contact John Reidinger at the Dolores Public Lands office, P.O. Box 210 Dolores, CO, 81323 or call 970-882-7296.