Connected: UTOPIA

Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency

When local officials in Utah began discussing ways to improve economic opportunities and the quality-of-life for residents, the talk turned to affordable high-speed Internet access. Those discussions have bloomed into one of the nation’s largest publicly owned fiber-optic networks – a consortium of 14 cities with a unified goal of providing residents and businesses world-class, affordable telecommunication services. 

Aptly named UTOPIA for the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, this open network gives households and businesses more choices, lower prices and better telecommunication services. Multiple private companies have the opportunity to offer a broad range of innovative and exciting applications, including Internet-based telephone service, video-on-demand, unprecedented TV viewing choices and a variety of other services. The ultra-broadband connectivity offered by UTOPIA is several times faster than typical DSL or cable modem offerings. 

Construction of the network is underway in several cities and the first customers are signing up.

Making the vision of UTOPIA a reality has required an incredible amount of work by a lot of people. The founding members of UTOPIA devised a staged approach to meet their goals:

• Created an Interlocal Agreement. City councils in the UTOPIA cities voted to create an interlocal agreement governing the creation and operation of the UTOPIA organization.
• Conducted a feasibility study.  UTOPIA hired consultants to determine which technology would best meet the needs of the communities; what business model would be appropriate for a public system, and whether the system could be financially self-sustaining. Findings from the completed study were further scrutinized by an independent third-party.
• Financed the project.  Upon a favorable outcome to the study, and despite fierce political opposition from incumbent telecom providers, member city councils committed to proceed with the project.  Firming up city commitments to ongoing participation allowed UTOPIA to determine potential market revenues as well as total construction costs and allowed UTOPIA to secure financing for the project.
• Started to Build.  Before borrowing the full amount of money required for a complete build out, UTOPIA borrowed sufficient funds to build a small sub-set of the network's first footprint to validate construction costs and to examine construction methodologies, service provisioning, customer support, and other operational issues.
• Built out the full network.  Upon successful examination of the policies and procedures established in the sub-set build out, the balance of the funding will be secured and committed cities will move ahead towards full deployment.  Using a capital-efficient approach to deployment, the network will grow as quickly as it is able to support itself.
• Operate and maintain the system.  UTOPIA will contract with third-party systems managers to ensure the ongoing viability and success of the system.

On the political front, UTOPIA has had to fight the incumbent telephone and cable companies at state legislative and city council levels to prevent regulations and laws that would have damaged or killed the project.

Visit the UTOPIA website!

UTOPIA Main Office:

1385 West 2200 South

Building F, Suite 302

West Valley City, UT 84119

Phone: (801) 955-3790

Fax: (801) 908-7225

Email