I'm going to start making a conscious effort to track blog postings in Utah about UTOPIA. As I noted earlier today, a lot of us talk but not to each other. Here's to hoping that highlighting discussions about UTOPIA brings more attention to the project!
First up is an update from Perry, one of the Phase 2 cities covered under the RUS loan. According to this blog post, service should be live there beginning in May of 2008. Construction is just barely underway, but it sounds like excitement in the city is high. After all, they've spent years planning this.
Second is a post from Rob Bennett, a city council member in West Jordan. He's taken an official stance on UTOPIA: wait and see. It seems like he understands both the technological need and the business need for UTOPIA given the failure of big telco; he's just having a hard time with the financials. West Jordan residents, perk up: after reviewing a copious amount of UTOPIA-related data, he plans to take it to the city council to be acted upon! (You know, provided he gets re-elected and everything.) This is an opportunity to get your friends and neighbors in West Jordan clamoring for UTOPIA!
That's all I've got for today. Stay tuned for more as it happens.