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Loveland Pulse Capitalizes on Power Project to Bring Fiber and High-Speed Internet to Big Thompson Elementary

New service allows the school to say goodbye to slow connection and hello to Gigabit speeds.

Loveland Pulse, the City’s communications utility providing high-speed internet and voice services, has installed its 100% fiber-optic network with gigabit internet speeds to Big Thompson Elementary School (BTES) which had poor network connectivity. Pulse was able to capitalize on a Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) project and the power division’s recent electric line upgrades to install its network up to the school. 

Loveland Pulse engineers test new 100% fiber-optic network recently installed at Big Thompson Elementary.

“Our partnership with the Thompson School District made us aware of the severe need at BTES. When our team realized that we could work together with other utilities to save money installing our fiber, we knew we had to jump at the opportunity,” said Brieanna Reed-Harmel, Pulse manager. “The move provides cost savings to Pulse and advances the goal of improved connections for the City and the school district. We will continue to take advantage of other ways to save money and get more people connected through these kinds of collaborations. ”

The City’s move solves a big problem for BTES and Thompson School District (TSD) as students return to schools for in-person learning. Unlike other TSD schools, BTES was on a much slower internet connection due to its location. A 4G connection was turned on over the summer and before that, the school was limited to using radio point-to-point at a bandwidth much lower than 4G. According to TSD Chief Technology Officer Matt Kuhn, before Pulse, the bandwidth at BTES was so low that the school was limited in the types of learning software it could access – the same software that other schools with better internet connections were able to implement. 

“BTES Students could not do nearly as much, as quickly, on the internet as other students. Since most of our software is cloud-based, this was a major problem,” said Kuhn. “Now BTES is not limited by their bandwidth. They can video conference, engage in interactive software, and more with ease thanks to the reliability, high-speed, and symmetrical speeds. Plus, the district no longer has to maintain two different kinds of internet connections to our schools, easing processes and saving us money.”

For BTES, a TSD Ubiquitous Technology Access School focused on blended learning and STEM, the network limitations had a cost to teachers and students as well. 

According to BTES principal Sarah Walgast,  the school has been working to increase technology integration for a few years now. Teachers have been building blended learning models with the hopes of incorporating virtual field trips and tours, meetings with students at other schools and community groups and more.  The unreliable network made it impossible for the school to successfully incorporate those resources. BTES even needed to stagger when classes were online, even through testing, so that students could work online uninterrupted. 

“It was extremely frustrating for our teachers to build out effective blended learning curriculum for students and have our poor connection stand in the way,” said Walgast. “The digital world is our students’ world and as a school, we need to meet our students where they are at. Upgrading to the Loveland Pulse network will help us immensely and we are incredibly grateful for this partnership that will bring so much value to our school and our families.” 

Pulse began constructing its network in November 2019 and it will take three to four years from that date to complete phase 1 of the project, within Loveland city limits. Phase two includes the rest of the City’s electric service area, including Big Thompson Canyon residents. 

“Our local Pulse team can’t wait to see how our network improves the lives of the teachers and students in our schools, starting with BTES,” said Reed-Harmel. “We know there is a critical need for reliable, high-speed internet service across the area and want to thank everyone in the community for their patience as we are doing everything we can to install our network safely and efficiently to get our residents and businesses the connections they deserve.”

Loveland Pulse unveils residential service plans

Today is an important day for Pulse as we have several big announcements: we are proud to announce our residential high-speed internet and voice service plans and pricing; and, as you can see, the launch of our new website. 

Pulse launched in 2018 as a community-owned service specifically for the residents and businesses of Loveland. We believe that the Loveland community deserves fast, reliable internet service with excellent customer service and fair rates. Our team has put in tremendous efforts to ensure that residents get a service they can count on.

High-speed internet is essential and that has become even clearer over the past few months. We have intentionally made Pulse service plans and rates affordable, simple to understand and easy to access so that residents can spend more time connecting, learning, and living. 

Fast. Affordable. Loveland. This is Pulse. 

Here are the residential service highlights. Full details and FAQs are at pulsefiber.org.

  • Inclusive: All Pulse residential internet plans come with a Wi-Fi gateway, symmetrical speeds, unlimited data with no caps or throttling, and no long-term contracts. 
  • Internet speed and fair rates for everyone’s needs: Pulse’s My Gig plan offers 1 gigabit per second (1,000 megabits per second) upload and download speed for $74.95 per month. An affordable starter plan offers 30 megabits per second for $44.95 per month and a 10 gigabits-per-second plan is also available. As you can see here, all speeds are available to help residents do what they need to. 
  • Reliable voice: Our voice service provides all the features you expect from a home phone, unlimited local and long-distance, and the reliability and call clarity you can count on for only $24.95 per month. 
  • Stay Tuned: We are reviewing TV service options and will have more to announce on that later this year. We are also finalizing business services. 

One of the biggest questions we continue to get is, “when can I sign up?” Remember –  it will take 3-4 years from November 2019 for everyone in the city to get service as we build out our 100% fiber network in front of every home and business in Loveland. 

We currently have a handful of customers connected on a testing basis. Service is now available to select areas and will continue to roll out over the next three to four years as network construction is completed. Residents that are eligible for service will receive a Pulse Pass –a bright yellow door hanger that says “Pulse is Here!” – notifying them they can sign up. Residents who have signed up using the Early Interest Form will also get an email notifying them about service in their area. 

We encourage you to sign up for the Early Interest Form for ongoing service updates and direct notification. Go to pulsefiber.org/EarlyInterest.    

In the meantime, we hope you are as excited as we are about our plans and service offerings. We know the next few months have a lot of additional great news in-store and we thank you for your continued patience with us as we bring 100% fiber to Loveland. 

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