Here is the study: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6611-report-municipal-fiber-in-the-united-states-an
Layne Sisk ServerPlus 801.426.8283, ext 102 -----Original Message----- From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Chuck McCown Sent: Monday, August 07, 2017 10:17 AM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Municipally funded ISPs iProvo sold out (gave the system away) to Google. Still substandard. -----Original Message----- From: fiber...@mail.com Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2017 11:01 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Municipally funded ISPs That's interesting. Can you share more details about being a service provider on the iProvo and AF networks? In what way we're they substandard? Jared > Sent: Monday, August 07, 2017 > From: "Sterling Jacobson" <sterl...@avative.net> > To: "af@afmug.com" <af@afmug.com> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Municipally funded ISPs > > I agree with that. > > The numbers never added up. iProvo never added up, Utopia never added > up, Amercian Fork system numbers never made any sense. > > I was a network provider on iProvo and AF networks for a while and > sold them off since they were always substandard and profit was driven > to minimum. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of ch...@wbmfg.com > Sent: Sunday, August 6, 2017 10:46 AM > To: af@afmug.com > Subject: [AFMUG] OT Municipally funded ISPs > > Here is an editorial in the Deseret News today. It is just an opinion. > > And I know Roger has been a reader of this list (Roger runs UTOPIA). > > But I have always been against municipal ISPs on principle. Some > things the government is good at, some things they are not good at. > > Roads and Streets == OK > Police and Fire == OK > EMS = OK but there are private providers that are OK too. > Water and Sewer = OK but there are many private systems Power and Gas > = Meh - I work in a city that has sold off their power and gas to > private because it was not a revenue center and they had lots of power > distribution problems. > > Telecommunications != OK > > They almost always seem to be problematic. And they compete with all > of you > (us) folks that can do a better job. (Sorry Roger, but that is my > opinion). > > > BY BILLY HESTERMAN > > FOR THE DESERET NEWS > > A longstanding principle of the Utah Taxpayers Association is if a > service can be found in the yellow pages, then government shouldn’t be > providing it. > We have seen far too many times where government attempts to compete > with the private sector and ends up wasting taxpayer money. One prime > example of this is the failed UTOPIA boondoggle that continues to > plague the 11 cities that created the entity. > > On Aug. 14, the Utah Infrastructure Agency, which was created in 2011 > to give UTOPIA more borrowing capacity, will vote on taking out a $13 > million bond to further build out the UTOPIA network in hopes of > making the whole effort profitable. The vote will likely pass but the > effort to make UTOPIA and UIA a success for taxpayers will never be realized. > > This attempt to continue to send money after a bad idea has to stop. > > The private sector is already providing the same service that can be > obtained through UTOPIA and it is past time that the local governments > that created this mess find a way out. > > Recently, the University of Pennsylvania released a study that > examined 20 municipally owned fiber networks from across the nation; > UTOPIA was included in the study. > > The report found that a majority of these networks struggle to recover > the costs that were incurred to build them. It went on to show that of > the 20 projects, only nine have had a positive revenue stream but that > of those nine, five are generating returns so small that it would take > more than > 100 years for the project costs to be recovered. Only two of the 20 > networks are expected to earn enough to cover their project costs > during the useful life of the networks. > > The Penn report went on to state that these government-owned ventures > struggle to ever make a profit and put taxpayers in danger of seeing > their local government increase debt, lose bond rating status and > elected officials becoming distracted from other important issues > because they are solely focused on the government’s fiber business. > The report found that if UTOPIA continues in its current state, that > the project will likely never turn a profit. It observed in a > five-year span from 2010-2014 that the network only obtained 11,000 > subscribers and that with a low subscription take the network was > realizing less than $30 in revenue per household in the cities that > make up UTOPIA. That is well below the $446 per household benchmark > achieved by other projects that the report looked at. > > I am often asked why the Utah Taxpayers Association cares so deeply > about the UTOPIA issue. One statement from the Penn report sums up why > we have taken the position we have as the report states, “Many cities > managing these projects have faced defaults, reductions in bond > ratings, and ongoing liability, not to mention the toll that troubled > municipal broadband ventures can take on city leaders in terms of > personal turmoil and distraction from other matters important to > citizens. City leaders should carefully assess all of these costs and > risks before permitting a municipal fiber program to go forward.” > > The risks and consequences are too much for taxpayers to shoulder. > > UTOPIA and UIA officials should vote against the upcoming $13 million > bond and start looking for new directions to take the network that > will be beneficial for taxpayers instead of continually investing > money into a sinking ship that will never be sea-worthy. > > Billy Hesterman is the vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. > >
