Getting high speed internet to residents and businesses of Tusayan is neither easy nor cheap, as the Tusayan Town Council is discovering.

At a recent meeting, the Town Council received some estimates from its consultant, NS Solutions.

What is needed is a microwave receiver at an airport tower and fiber optic infrastructure within the town to make the broadband connections. The estimate for this is about $850,000.

Ultimately, there would need to be an actual connection and that would involve running fiber optic cable all the way to Williams. The price tag for that is more than $3.5 million.

There are federal grants that are available to help cover the costs from Homeland Security to the Department of Education. Local businesses might also be called upon to get involved.

Whatever system is applied, it won't be free. residents and businesses would still have to pay to get the service. But as things stand now, what's available now is not very reliable.

Mayor Greg Bryan would like to reach out to the private sector. He told the Council, “I’d like to see a balanced plan of residential and commercial.”

The Council, which has long been committed to bringing modern internet service to Tusayan, likes the plans; but they need more time before agreeing to spend any money.