With 2023 moving into the past with the speed of a fiber-optic connection, it’s pretty easy to say that it was a big year for broadband. Fiber deployments, net neutrality and how to close the “digital divide” made headline news across the country, while also reinforcing the importance of high-quality internet services like Longmont’s own NextLight.

And NextLight had a lot to celebrate as well. In a word … no, wait, summing up the high points of 2023 is actually going to take a few words. Words like …

Student WiFi

Learning opportunities for Longmont’s students expanded in 2023 when NextLight and the St. Vrain Valley School District teamed up to begin offering free wireless internet service to the district’s 4,000 free and reduced-lunch students. The project was the latest development in a partnership that goes back to the earliest days of NextLight and continues the efforts of both to close the digital divide.

Repealing restrictions

NextLight first began in 2014 because Longmont residents voted to lift Colorado’s restrictions on city-owned broadband, and in 2023, the state finally caught up, repealing those limits statewide. “Each local government is in a unique position or different phase of connecting residents to high-speed internet, and this bill allows them to establish broadband plans that meet the needs of their communities,” Brandy Reitter of the Colorado Broadband Office declared. In the home of the state’s first community-owned network, it’s easy to agree.

Awesome customers

NextLight customers seized a national spotlight in 2023 when their support got NextLight named the Top ISP in the nation for home and business customers in PC Magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice awards. “This fiber-based broadband service receives the highest satisfaction scores on every question that we ask,” the magazine wrote. While NextLight has been recognized many times for speed, reliability and more, this award got to the heart of its greatest strength: its amazing community.

Do you IQ?

NextLight customers who get the WiFi6 Whole Home Solution gained a new and useful tool in 2023 called ExperienceIQ, offering the ability to better organize their home wireless network. Through a smartphone app, users can set screen time limits, establish priorities for important activities, and more. (And if the name sounds familiar, you may be remembering the ProtectIQ that’s also on the WiFi 6 routers, enhancing customer security.)

Yes, our community had a lot to celebrate. And we expect to have even more opportunities in 2024.

You have our word on it.