UTOPIA Fiber, already expanding into West Point and Clearfield, will build the $23.5 million network in Syracuse, with work to begin in early 2022. The aim is to bring the network to all homes and businesses in the city.

“Bringing UTOPIA Fiber to Syracuse City is very important for our future growth,” Mayor Mike Gailey said in a statement. “UTOPIA Fiber will deliver on speed, capacity and reliability, and more importantly, has the track record to help us be successful.”

Leaders in numerous Northern Utah cities, including some in Weber County, have increasingly been debating the state of internet and fiber in their locales, investigating ways to augment offerings beyond incumbent operators. UTOPIA representatives have met with leaders in North Ogden, South Ogden, Washington Terrace and West Haven to discuss the firm’s offerings and West Haven is seeking outside proposals to build a new network in the city.

The Syracuse City Council voted earlier this year to contract with UTOPIA’s sister entity, the Utah Infrastructure Agency, or UIA, to build the new network. The city will be the 17th in the UTOPIA network.

UTOPIA, owned by the communities with networks, operates open-access systems, which means private telecom firms that actually provide internet tap into its fiber to provide the service to the public. The standard operating procedure calls for bonding to cover network construction costs by UIA, backed by the particular city where the system is going in. Subscriber revenue is tapped to cover bond costs, thus requiring no out-of-pocket costs by cities.

UTOPIA officials announced last week that the entity’s network in Midvale had been finished. Other completed networks in Northern Utah are in Centerville, Layton and Morgan.