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| Winter 2021 Newsletter |
February 25, 2021 |
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The Governor’s Office of Information Technology has appointed Anthony (Antonio) Sean Martinez as the second-ever Executive Director to lead the Colorado Broadband Office.
Martinez will be responsible for driving the state’s broadband strategy, collaborating closely with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Department of Local Affairs, Department of Regulatory Agencies and other state agencies. He will continue the state’s efforts to grow strong public and private sector relationships in communities to support broadband expansion throughout Colorado.
"Becoming Executive Director of the Colorado Broadband Office is an absolute privilege. It allows me to focus my years in public service on providing vital broadband to the underserved communities in my native state,” said Martinez.
Martinez joins the state after serving 32 years in a myriad of federal leadership positions under six government administrations. He has served as a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Dept. of Treasury Advisor to the Chief Operations Officer, U.S. Dept. of Energy Deputy Director, and most recently a Director at the U.S. Dept. of State.
A combat veteran, Martinez has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and North Africa. He is a fifth generation Colorado native from the San Luis Valley. Martinez graduated from Antonito High School, holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy and earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
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 The deadline for the Colorado Broadband Map spring data collection is approaching quickly. Broadband providers need to submit data by March 5, 2021! Visit our website to review our updated submission guidelines, which have been revised to mirror changes in federal broadband data collection processes, or contact us for more information.
If you are a broadband provider and you have not spoken with our team, please get in touch with us as soon as possible to get started with the data submission process.
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The Colorado General Assembly reconvened on Feb. 16, 2021, and broadband connectivity is a popular topic this session. While CBO does not have a specific bill that addresses our legislative priorities, we hope to work with the sponsors of both SB21-060 and HB21-1109 to achieve our priorities. These two bills make changes to the Broadband Deployment Board and how broadband is deployed in Colorado.
Kate Sneed, the Legislative Liaison for the Colorado Broadband Office, conducts bimonthly Broadband Stakeholder calls to discuss topics important to the legislative session. If you would like to participate in these calls, please contact her directly at kate.sneed@state.co.us.
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In December 2020, HB 20B-1001 appropriated $20 million from the general fund to award grants through the Connecting Colorado Students Grant (CCSG) program to increase access to broadband services for students, educators and other staff who lack stable, reliable internet access for online learning.
Through the CCSG program, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has awarded over $17 million to school districts in Colorado. Successful CCSG grant applicants leveraged income-qualified internet service provider (ISP) offerings from cable and cellular providers while others applied for satellite service, fixed wireless solutions (owned and operated by the districts and/or their partners), and fiber to the home solutions from rural electric cooperative ISPs and municipal ISPs. The CCSG grant awards will support student and teacher connectivity for the next twelve months.
Visit the CCSG webpage for more information and check out a recent update presented to the Broadband Advisory Board by DeLilah Collins, ESEA Office Assistant Director.
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