That is where the blackout seems to be!

It’s more shameful that they were able to get the legislative body to support them and defend them and NOT work for the citizens they represent.

I’m not sure UTOPIA “mislead” people as much as failing to come forward with information that could have (and should have) provided. I don’t think UTOPIA actually lied about anything?

I think the cities need representatives (board members) that will demand to see the business plan and that are smart enough to drill down on the data, knowing what questions to ask to not be “surprised” by what happens. Either the cities don’t have that representation now, or they too are keeping “mum” about what citizens can expect, next year and in the next few years and beyond.

Is there really a reasonable business plan that shows UTOPIA not subsidized by the cities? If not, let’s allow the cities to make long term plans to support them or look for a buyer to cut their loses while the system is still ahead of Comcast. I think the network value goes down as Comcast improves their own network.

Utopia should be ashamed of themselves for misleading people. I also feel our government should also be ashamed as well. They bear some measure of responsibility as well as other’s like Qwest or Concast. Tying these guys up so they waste resources on lawsuits (for example) is wrong.

Goes to show you that the entry level is very high in this space. No wonder America isn’t even in the top 10 in the world anymore. Pity

The range of $50k to $300k is rather broad and we don’t know when the draw might begin or how much operating revenue they have available to contribute to the payment…or will the cities be called upon to make the full payment with nothing coming from UTOPIA’s operating revenue?

Some of those answers might give us a clue as to how much the cities should expect to pay once the full and regular bond payments become due in 2010.

I think those payments were to be about $1.3 to $1.6 million? Has that amount changed if their interest rate is variable?
At today rate, how much should the bond payments be?

UTOPIA has many questions to answer and I would expect (based upon past performance) they will do everything possible to keep the answers a secret. Those additional skeletons will likely have to be painfully extracted by using GRAMA request, etc.

Whats next?

It is good to hear that UTOPIA is covering operating costs (hopefully) with subscriber revenues (and not interest on unused bond proceeds, etc.). This makes me feel much better about the current management team.

But I would still call for replacing them IF they continue to withhold information and require filing GRAMA requests to get items that should be public like their by-laws and their budget (which becomes public when they file it with the State anyway).

However, the principle of UTOPIA is still one worth fighting for since it is not a market that I believe can be adequately serviced when left to private industry alone, the barriers to entry (cost) are too high to allow for the kind of robust competition that is what makes free markets special.