Broadband Bytes for 2012-01-21
- Could this be the year of IPv6? http://t.co/if6lzYG4 #
- Hulu imitates Netflix, seeks original content. http://t.co/iyDoXojr #
- A sign of the times? Windows 8 will help out with metered connections. http://t.co/HLaJov2T #
- SOPA And PIPA dead for now. http://t.co/Q26Q8cP7 #
- Deals between Verizon and cable are prompting anti-trust concerns. http://t.co/czo2h5QL #
- No regulation + no competition = Comcast hiking prices by 80% over three years. http://t.co/cy0lOTru #
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UTOPIA’s 2011 Audit Report
UTOPIA’s 2011 audit report (PDF) has come out, and the Utah Taxpayers Association wasted no time in butchering their “analysis” of it. (If you need a good piece of fiction, go find their January 2012 newsletter; I won’t grace it with a link.) Their overeagerness to once again trash UTOPIA, however, means they ignored basic math and did zero fact-checking, but we’re all used to that by now, aren’t we?
The golden ray of sunshine in the report is a jump in total revenues of 98.7% over the prior year while expenditures dropped 7.2%. (The UTA chose to focus on just operating revenues and omitted the information about dropping costs.) Saying that this is a huge improvement is an understatement, especially when this doesn’t include any of the new UIA subscribers in the mix. While there was a small drop in total subscribers (a net loss of 210 thanks to the Prime Time meltdown), the period from July 1 to December 31 netted an additional 1400 subscribers via the UIA. This isn’t included in the audit report since 1) the audit report covers the period from June 30 2010 to June 30 2011 and 2) all new residential subscribers are being brought on via the UIA and will be included in a separate audit report beginning next year.
Since the UTA really can’t spin a good story concerning the revenues and expenditures, they chose instead to attack on the assets front. You may recall that part of UTOPIA’s bond structure is to use credit swaps to help stabilize the interest paid on their variable rate bond. Essentially, they purchased bonds with a slightly lower interest rate than what they pay and use the interest revenue to help stabilize fluctuations in bond rates, paying only the spread between the two. When UTOPIA’s audits are performed, it has to take into account all liabilities including the cost of these bonds they own. This creates the perception of decreased net assets even though UTOPIA won’t be selling those bonds until pay off their own bond. In short, it’s a paper liability that doesn’t actually cost them anything until almost three decades from now. The UTA, however, did not talk to UTOPIA to ask about this situation, instead choosing to assume the worst.
According to UTOPIA, they are currently ahead on their projections for revenues and slightly behind on total subscribers, about a wash. The first year of their five-year plan focused most heavily on existing service areas, areas where picking up additional subscribers would be relatively low-cost. Year 2 is going to focus more heavily on getting additional areas hooked up, so make sure you’re registering your interest on their website.
So the short of it is that UTOPIA has posted huge increases in revenues, a modest decrease in expenditures, and it well on-track to sign up thousands of new customers by the time their current fiscal year closes. If that’s not success, I don’t know what is.
Broadband Bytes for 2012-01-14
- Dish bets on the DVR to end all DVRs. http://t.co/eCAFfBtG #
- Should we expect more original content online this year? http://t.co/gJiTmCE9 #
- Will ISPs start selling the right to cut in line? http://t.co/acUnupfF #
- Cord-cutting no longer just for hipsters, going mainstream. http://t.co/TIHEZ36X #
- AT&T putting on a sock puppet show to try and keep its hands clean. http://t.co/wBmRaEha #
- CentuyLink is bringing IPTV to town. http://t.co/B6kKxbb3 #
- The intersection of Comcast and the federal government is larger than you think. http://t.co/P6KzJJuz #
- I'll be hanging out at @UTOPIAnet tomorrow afternoon. If you want me to ask questions, pass them along. #
- Do you have cable or satellite TV? $8 of your monthly bill is just for sports. http://t.co/3R6lQAD7 #
- Google TV adds OnLive for streaming games. http://t.co/Gx40H56w #
- 10Gbps coax could happen… next decade. http://t.co/0PqsoHmj #
- Oops! Comcast admits that SOPA won't work http://t.co/CkEkmcuG #
- Verizon ditches the set-top box for FIOS. http://t.co/tUn5yJVq #
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Broadband Bytes for 2012-01-07
- Provo is writing off $5.4M loans to #iProvo from the energy department. http://t.co/eqAsoC0c #
- Stick a fork in BPL; it's done. http://t.co/ysNmrvN8 #
- Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the most spectrum of them all? http://t.co/uoaG6nJN #
- Problems with censorship? Why not launch your own satellite? http://t.co/xaOyXvE6 #
- Comcast says it's done installing DOCSIS 3.0. Don't have it? Tough noogies. http://t.co/HEStijKw #
- If your telco won't and your city can't, use a co-op to get good broadband. http://t.co/5kriOQqB #
- Would you use bitTorrent for cloud storage? Because you can. http://t.co/n3UURDuM #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-12-24
- MIT gets into the e-learning field. http://t.co/FmKDICfT #
- Sprint starts a phone patent fight with cable. http://t.co/IAaWFHQt #
- GameFly embraces the Netflix model, now streams games to subscribers a la OnLive. http://t.co/PO2EtsP5 #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-12-17
- Want to land a data center in your town? These places are on the ball. http://t.co/E4BEdAdm #
- Do you have an Internet connection, or do you have broadband? http://t.co/8G4x8iQw (h/t @windley) #
- You think we're bad? 100M people in Europe still haven't used the Internet. http://t.co/znnZ02aL #
- SOPA goes for a strategic retreat, but it can always come back later. http://t.co/7wS53p0t #
- Can tougher CA standards fix SSL? http://t.co/OhgwoVz7 #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-12-10
- The facts of bandwidth usage (and how it is billed) don't support caps. http://t.co/dVbnWpiH #
- Comcast and Time Warner show Clearwire the door. http://t.co/vcg9DRlC #
- No, it's not your imagination. You are actually wasting a lot of time online. http://t.co/OTFo1N6k #
- Frontier doesn't care if you own your modem, they'll charge you for it anyway. http://t.co/bbnYhGul #
- Human review of all online postings? Get real, India. http://t.co/CHAnJJGN #
- Borders joins the fray of selling IPv4 addresses. http://t.co/vDEwR601 #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-12-03
- Unsurprisingly, you're using screens other than TVs to watch video. http://t.co/S4jk7EAo #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-11-26
- Fmr. @UTOPIAnet exec plans to sue @mayorwinder over a Burwash story. http://t.co/WAcW7338 #utpol #
- CenturyLink starts capping. http://t.co/hgEbfGem #
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Broadband Bytes for 2011-11-19
- Can't figure out what to do with a gig? Build it first, worry about apps later. http://t.co/n0PPO5t2 #
- Charging for prioritization gives ISPs an incentive for clogged pipes. http://t.co/T9BnfOcb #
- Surprise! RUS kind of sucks at that whole oversight thing. http://t.co/t9wlIUtb #
- The science has spoken: telecommuting is good. http://t.co/vckmhRDe #
- DoJ wants to make fake profiles a crime. http://t.co/IZMJIySf #
- Don't want Google sharing the location of your AP? Better tell them so. http://t.co/AgCMO0eB #
- Cox folds its wireless experiment. http://t.co/p4GcTsLK #
- Cable pays less than ever for bandwidth, but caps and overages persist? http://t.co/XyswU0ax #
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