Help Me Investigate AFCNet

As you know, I’ve been doing some digging into the fortunes of AFCNet to try and figure out what it’s current status is. The preliminary research revealed that the buyer hasn’t been keeping current on interest-only payments and that the city has been losing a lot of money on it over the last six years. To follow up on this and see if selling the residential network was a bad move, I had to file a second GRAMA request for a significant amount of detail. Despite requesting a waiver for fees since this information is pertinent to the public interest and would be published here free of charge, the city has assessed a fee for these records of $66.50. I know it’s not a large amount, but I do all of this as a hobby of sorts and my personal finances really can’t justify the expense (especially not with a brand new baby).

That’s where you hopefully come in. Given the immense value of having a thorough review of the network, its finances, and its subscriber figures, I think it is imperative that this data get released. Since I can’t spare the money, I’m asking one of you to step in and give me a hand here. Heck, I’ll even provide credit and a plug of your choosing for it. If you’d be interested in helping out, please call or email me using the info on the FAQ.

UPDATE: Thanks to Mike Taylor of Guru Technologies for covering the costs. If you need contract software development, maybe give him a shout.

Has American Fork fixed its broadband network woes? Hardly

Back on March 15, I filed a GRAMA request to get some more details on American Fork’s sale of AFCNet, their municipal broadband network, to a private party. The request was dutifully filled exactly 10 business days later on March 29. The documents revealed the terms of the sale, what was sold, and the payment history on the network. The following day, after years of silence about American Fork’s broadband, the Daily Herald publishes an article asserting that the city has managed to turn their city-owned broadband fortunes around. This, however, is an obvious snow job.

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