Colorado to Fund Cyber Risk Plans for ISPs Ahead of BEAD Deployment
The state was vetting vendors to help ISPs.
DENVER, August 7, 2025 – Colorado officials announced Wednesday that the state will cover the cost of cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans for Internet service providers participating in the state's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Speaking at the Mountain Connect conference, representatives from the Governor’s Office and Attorney General’s Office said the state was vetting vendors to help ISPs – particularly smaller providers – meet federal cybersecurity requirements before signing their grant agreements.
“If you don’t already have a C-SCRM, you must before the execution of the grant agreement,” Alison Terry, strategy officer at Colorado’s Office of the Governor said. “We are in the process of vetting some vendors that ISPs will be able to use to support that process. We just need to know if you need it.”
Jud Cary, senior assistant attorney general for broadband for Colorado, confirmed that the state would be paying for those services.
“By hiring and vetting these other companies, you can get that done quickly,” Cary said. “If you’re a small ISP and need assistance, that’s a great service to have.”
The news that Colorado will pay to help ISPs meet C-SCRM requirements was welcome news for many providers in the state.
In addition to announcing that the state would pay for C-SCRM plans, Michael Murphy, senior IT project manager at Colorado Broadband Office also warned ISPs to be on the lookout for cost overruns.
“We’re all going to be approved on December 5th,” Murphy said, detailing that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has roughly 90 days to approve all final BEAD proposals, putting the expected approval date around December 5.
“You’re all going to be scrambling to get workforce, supplies, supply chains, I think that may be an issue as well, that may not be expected,” Murphy said.
Terry noted that applicants may be skimping on their contingency budgets to win awards from the Benefit of the Bargain round.
“The Benefit of the Bargain round has created this low-cost incentive,” Terry explained. “We are concerned that those contingency budgets have been one of the places where grantees have tried to economize.”
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