Fight for Grant Funds for West Hotchkiss Concludes

Courts rule in favor of TDS once again

January 3, 2020 – Last spring Elevate lost out on state grant funds for citizens in West Hotchkiss after the Broadband Deployment Board reversed the award on the grounds that TDS already serves the area with high-speed internet. 
 
Despite this, Elevate continued the fight for West Hotchkiss, and over the past 9 months, argued on three separate appeals in an effort to win back those funds. In mid-December, the court issued a final ruling on Elevate’s appeal, once again siding in favor with TDS.
 
“We exhausted every avenue possible to get the ruling overturned. While this is devasting for Elevate, it’s it even more so for the families living in West Hotchkiss. We are truly disappointed for our neighbors near Hotchkiss. Their wait for a modern internet connection continues,” said Kent Blackwell, Chief Technology Officer for DMEA and Elevate. 
 
Despite the loss of funds for the Hotchkiss area, Elevate was awarded $4 million in grants for three other areas near Crawford (portions of Crawford 57), Northeast Delta (portions of Delta N 175), and West Montrose (Montrose 428 C). Construction in these grant zones will kick off this spring, meaning approximately 800 more homes will soon have access to Elevate’s fiber network and truly high-speed internet. Meanwhile, Elevate will continue to seek out every opportunity to fund the construction of its fiber network in rural areas, including West Hotchkiss, through continued grant applications.