Free UTOPIA!

Ookla, the company responsible for running Speedtest.net, has recently released new results on the state of broadband speeds around the world and Brigham City has taken the top spot in Utah by a wide margin. Their average speed of 20.59Mbps handily bests second-place Pleasant Grove by almost 60%. Considering that over a third of the city accesses the Internet using a UTOPIA service provider, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise; almost all of the increase has been in the somewhat recent future. Neither is it surprising that two of the top three ISPs (as ranked by speed) are UTOPIA providers Xmission and Integra Telecom.

I think the moral of the story is crystal clear: if you want top-notch Internet service, get UTOPIA.

Unsurprisingly, Payson is hand-wringing over joining the new Utah Infrastruture Agency over financial concerns. On Wednesday, the city council opted to put off making a decision until August 4 as they worried openly both about the cost and how much say they would have in the new agency. Payson is about 30% connected and city leaders feel like if they don’t join, they won’t see any new construction.

And really, that’s true. The UTOPIA money well is empty and until the system is operating in the black, there will be nothing with which to build. The UIA is an attempt to solve this lack of capital while not putting the cities themselves on the hook for more money. Given the tone that Payson is using, it sounds to me like they either don’t understand the proposal before them or are operating purely on deer-in-headlights fear.

It’s not surprising to see that Payson’s city council members haven’t developed any new intestinal fortitude since they tucked tail and made a calculated vote against the new bond two years ago. I personally feel like they’re repeating the mistakes of American Fork, jumping in with a lot of initial enthusiasm and not having the wherewithal to see the vision through. Any elected official who operates with that kind of short-sighted eye towards instant gratification can’t be counted on in tough times. To be blunt, they’re cowards, afraid to do what is necessary and acting in shameless self-interest.

Grow a pair already, Payson. I’m sure you’re wearing thin on the rest of the cities too.

Incumbent telcos haven’t exactly been thrilled at having to offer their lines at wholesale rates to competing ISPs, especially since landline revenues have been sliding into a ditch. While AT&T and Verizon can keep most of that revenue with a wireless division, Qwest has no such option and has struggled with making enough money to either reduce its staggering debt load or upgrade its network. Instead of offering, say, good service or a product that people want to buy, they instead figured out that rolling out FTTN would let them claim to no longer have a copper plant to share. Of course, they don’t admit so much in public, instead insisting that other ISPs are just too incompetent (heh) to handle their shiny new pipes.

Well, Xmission has called them on it with a recording of a Qwest agent saying flat-out that the point of FTTN has been to eliminate competition and bring all of those customers in-house. It’s pretty damning evidence that Qwest doesn’t want to compete based on the products and services they offer, but rather on locking out competition. Is it any wonder that we have fewer ISPs today than we did in 1997 and that the few remaining ones are on UTOPIA as a means of survival?

One of the more interesting parts of UTOPIA’s new plans via the Utah Infrastructure Agency (UIA) is to have cities start taking over billing operations directly. In the past, service providers operated all of the billing and then remitted payment to UTOPIA for the wholesale transport. That arrangement works well for most providers, but every now and again, you get an Mstar that racks up a huge debt to UTOPIA. While the step to diversify the video offerings so that no provider can hold triple-play over their head, it only gives UTOPIA a hammer to cut off the deadbeats, not a way to get their money. So, in an effort to make sure that UTOPIA always gets their cut and isn’t giving any provider a free loan, it looks like they’re going to consolidate billing into the UIA which will then disburse the money to both UTOPIA and the service providers.

I have some mixed feelings on this. Sure, it sucks when a crappy company like Mstar takes the network for a multi-million dollar ride. And it would suck if a company decided to not pay their bills for a month or two and leave UTOPIA holding the bag. I can certainly see how this improves the cash flow on their side. On the other side, billing is a way for providers to differentiate their customer service. I know a lot of people who have sworn off Qwest because their bill couldn’t ever come out quite right. I also wonder if providers will be hot on the idea of a third-party provider collecting the money and delaying the cash flow on their side. It also raises the issue of what happens when there’s non-payment by the customer. Instead of the provider having to pay UTOPIA anyway while they seek payment (or, more likely, shut off service), UTOPIA is left holding that bag. Granted, it’s a lot less than if a provider stops paying their bills, but it’s something worth thinking about.

In any event, this seems like an overall positive move with a few caveats. If nothing else, UTOPIA is working its tail off to try and protect itself from these kinds of financial problems.

The Utah “Taxpayers” Association thought it would get an upper hand with a BBQ in Orem just before the city council voted on a new construction bond. Unfortunately for them, the plan backfired when UTOPIA made a surprise appearance at the event with their “mobile command center” and started actually talking directly with the meeting attendees, many of whom had no opinion of UTOPIA yet and came to get more information. According to my sources, about half of the 250 or so attendees ended up registering their interest in UTOPIA services, a major coup for the network that upstaged their most vocal opponent.

Apparently what convinced a lot of the undecideds was the UTA’s refusal to disclose who pays their bills. That lack of transparency translated directly into looking like they have something to hide (hint: it’s Qwest and Comcast dollars) and left many looking at their fantastic claims skeptically. I’d like to say that there were some talking points to address, but an eyewitness account called it so much kool-aid drinking, a series of incomprehensible rants filled with insinuation, innuendo, insults, and no concrete addressable facts. In contrast, UTOPIA discussed their new business plan with individual residents and offered demonstrations of how well the service can work. Truth has power and it wasn’t on the UTA’s side.

In attendance were Rep. Mike Morley, UTA VP Royce Van Tassell, UTA President Sen. Howard Stephenson, Rep. Steve Sandstrom, and Sen. Margaret Dayton (who did not speak). UTOPIA openly challenged both Stephenson and Van Tassell to provide outside oversight of their plan, an offer which they declined to accept. Considering that the UTA regularly chides UTOPIA for mismanagement and secrecy, I would think they’d jump at the chance to look at things from the inside. If nothing else, they could fabricate some juicy new attacks from half-truths. This says a lot about the true motivations of the Utah “Taxpayers” Association. If they really wanted to keep an eye on UTOPIA for the benefit of all taxpayers, why would they turn this down?

Please, UTA, consider holding more of these events. As many as you want. You come out looking like fools and UTOPIA gains even more customers and mindshare. I’ll even volunteer for the dunk tank.

Also, see coverage from the Deseret News and Daily Herald. Bonus: I’ve got about a paragraph in the Herald article.

As a side note, I saw it reported that the connections on the new plan will be $50/mo plus service, but I don’t know if that’s accruate and haven’t gotten a reply to an e-mail I sent Monday seeking clarification. It’s also unclear how much a service provider tacks on top of that if that is the case, though it had better be well south of $20/mo for Internet. You’ll know more when I do.

I usually spend a lot of time checking my non-broadband opinions at the door. If anyone cares about my political leanings outside of telecommunications, they can find my other blog with great ease. In this case though, I’ve got more than a few choice words for the broadband stimulus and how it has failed to improve anything at all. In fact, I believe it has only made things worse.

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The Salt Lake Tribune reports today that Google had a few UTOPIA executives come out to their offices last month to discuss how UTOPIA operates. The article insinuates that this may mean that UTOPIA is near the top of the heap in Google’s search for a location to build a fiber-optic network. As tantalizing as that possibility is, I don’t think there’s evidence enough to support it.

Google would obviously be interested in how UTOPIA operates regardless of if they are a finalist. UTOPIA’s model is very, very close to what Google wants to do and it is in their best interests to learn what does and doesn’t work on an open-access wholesale fiber-to-the-premises network. I think UTOPIA would be an excellent partner for Google, but nobody yet knows if Google is interested in expanding an existing project (or one already in progress) or taking the steps to create one from scratch using the best practices of what’s already been tried. That alone could make or break any potential deal between the two parties.

Google may also not want to step into such a partnership because of the complexities of determining who owns what. While I believe them to be an honorable company that tries to do the right thing more often than not (despite, on occasion, stepping in it), they are likely going to want some interest in whatever the finished product may be and potentially a controlling one. Cities that have already sunk a bunch of time, energy, and money into it may not be so willing to let go of the reins.

I know there is a lot of excitement about a company of Google’s stature dropping a fat wad of cash on crazy-fast pipes, but we should try tempering that with a realistic perspective. It’s simply too soon to tell who Google will choose to work with.

Remember UTOPIA’s new plan to shift the cost of the network from the cities onto subscribers? It’s been moving forward in the form of the Utah Infrastructure Agency, a way for cities to bond for construction without having to put taxpayers as a whole on the hook. So far, West Valley City, Lindon, Midvale, Layton, and Orem are on board with Perry and Tremonton deciding to sit it out. Other cities are still considering signing up for it and need to hear from you.

So what exactly does this do? In short, it’s the next evolution beyond the SAA used in Brigham City. The SAA model was to  find demand, form an SAA, and then get the funds to start construction. The UIA will, instead, get the money first, find the areas of demand, and then start construction once it becomes feasible. Just like the SAA, the subscribers that get hooked up under the arrangement will be the ones footing the bill. This speeds up the process of connecting customers while still continuing to shift the burden of supporting the network away from cities and onto those who get service.

To be quite honest, I can’t see why a city wouldn’t be all over this. There’s no cost to the cities to participate and increased subscribers will only decrease or eliminate the called pledges. Given the benefits to the taxpayer, that they are taken off the hook, you’d think the Utah “Taxpayers” Association would be all for it. (Fat chance, I know.) The good news is that any city that doesn’t elect to participate now can always reconsider in the future. If your city has already declined to join (or does so in the future), you can still pester them until they reconsider.

Note: While Orem was part of the founding group of the UIA, they haven’t taken an official vote on the matter yet. There will be a public hearing on Tuesday after which the Orem City Council will decide if they will join. They chose the new bond in a 6-0 vote last time around, but the UTA is holding their rally just before the meeting to try and pack the house with opponents and scare council members into reversing course. It’s very important that UTOPIA supporters turn out in force both at the rally and the meeting to thwart these efforts. I hear there’s going to be a fun surprise for the UTA during their BBQ, so show up and be prepared for a laugh at their expense.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the Utah “Taxpayers” Association. Their frequent stretching of the truth and cowardly dodges of criticism sometimes make my blood boil. Apparently I’m not alone. A reader pointed out a new blog, Stop UTA, that’s going to be a watchdog on their activities and point out their lies and hypocrisy. I’m looking forward to more voices taking them on.

Not content to pen astroturf editorials and send deceptive last-minute postcards, the Utah “Taxpayers” Association has plans to hold an anti-UTOPIA rally in Orem on July 13. The BBQ/carnival (heh) will be in Orem City Park, 300 E Center St, from 5-7PM. I’d encourage UTOPIA supporters to show up in a counter-protest to correct what will undoubtedly be a series of half-truths, hyperbole, and plain old-fashioned lying. And, unlike my challenge to a throw-down that went unanswered, they can’t exactly run away from you if you call them on it.

As always, be respectful and don’t act like a jerk. You aren’t going to win anyone over with an attitude. I’d like to be there myself, but I’ll be out of town on business.