Internet speed wars escalate in region

City officials from the region say their explorations into creating municipal broadband utilities are moving forward despite recent announcements by Comcast and CenturyLink that the companies plan to significantly increase the speeds of their Internet services in Colorado.

While Longmont is well into the build-out of its 1-gigabit network dubbed NextLight, Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado cities such as Boulder, Loveland, Fort Collins and Estes Park all are examining doing something similar.

While they applaud the announcements by CenturyLink and Comcast as good for consumers in general, local officials say it’s too early to tell whether…