Over the past several years various units of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe have been working to develop wireless communications services using a radio tower above Ignacio. These services include offering wireless Internet of speeds up to 20 megabits per second (mbps) to Tribal Members, providing data connections from remote Tribal government buildings to the main Tribal Government campus, connecting business units of the Tribe to each other, “backhauling” data traffic between Ignacio and Durango where communication service providers have their facilities, providing access for regional Internet Service Providers to the Ignacio market and extending the range of emergency radio communications.

Currently the team is working to put a communication tower on top of the site of the old water tank on Rattlesnake Hill. The team is completing the approval process and is looking to complete construction before the first winter snows. As part of the approval process the team is holding a meeting to discuss the proposed tower at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in the Buckskin Charlie Room on the second floor of  the Leonard C. Burch Building in Ignacio.

If you have and any comments or questions about this project, please call Southern Ute Indian Tribe Management Information Systems at 970-563-0128 or send an email to mis@southernute-nsn.gov.