Garfield County moved to a new web address in March. Find us then at garfieldcountyco.gov. Domains like this are more trusted, because only official governments can use them.
Fiber optics network cable for ultra fast internet.

County supports Pathfinder BEAD grant application

Local broadband provider looking to expand services to western Garfield County

PRESS RELEASE
February 21, 2025

Garfield County is supporting a federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant application by Pathfinder Broadband, which is seeking to provide fixed internet service to unserved and underserved customers along the Interstate 70 and Highway 82 corridors. The BEAD program’s goal is to connect 99 percent of Colorado households and businesses to reliable broadband services by 2027.

Garfield County Procurement and Contracts Director Scott Henriksen told the Board of County Commissioners that the Colorado Broadband Office has opened a second round of funding for applications that runs through February 28.

“Pathfinder intends to leverage existing infrastructure and relationships with city, county, and public partnerships to deliver new-build fiber and fixed wireless to all areas,” the county’s letter of support reads.

Pathfinder Broadband’s Director of Enterprise Sales Michael Scarpitti told the board that Pathfinder is focused on providing expanded, reliable internet service in the area. The company originated as a fiber to the home provider and is looking to expand service to western Garfield County and more rural areas, including Hunter Mesa, Silt Mesa, Rulison, Chacra, and Missouri Heights, among others.

“You see our trucks around; we are a local company and have established ourselves here. Our offices are based out of Glenwood Springs,” Scarpitti said. “We’ve been in business as Pathfinder since 2017. We established the business for literally the same reasons that the BEAD grant exists, we noticed that there was a lack of consistent, reliable internet service in the valley and surrounding areas.

“We don’t have any grand designs to become the next Comcast. We want to stay where we live and play,” he continued. “That’s our expectation as we grow and hopefully, as part of the BEAD grant, we can expand our service area all the way to Parachute, westward, and we already service areas up to Vail, and this is where we want to stay. We service customers between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, and we have several partnerships we are working with in other local municipalities.”

Garfield County is currently in the third phase of its broadband initiative, which comprises the construction of “last mile” service that would reach roughly 4,000 non-served and underserved county citizens located outside of current service areas.

The first two phases of the project included construction of carrier neutral locations (CNLs) in Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Parachute, Silt, and Rifle, establishing access to large internet hubs in Denver and Salt Lake City. All locations are connected to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) fiber lines under I-70.

“We spent quite a bit of money on the middle mile, and we’d love to see more service in the Colorado River Basin,” said Commissioner Tom Jankovsky.

The board approved the letter of support unanimously, 3-0. Both Pitkin and Eagle counties have also signed letters in support of Pathfinder’s application.