UTOPIA launches install of new broadband network in Syracuse
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- Syracuse and UTOPIA Fiber representatives held a ceremony on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, to launch development of a new broadband network in the city. Ceremonially breaking ground, from left, are UTOPIA Executiver Director Roger Timmerman, Syracuse City Manager Brady Bovero (partially hidden), Syracuse Mayor Mike Gailey, Syracuse City Councilperson Jordan Savage, UTOPIA Chief Marketing Officer Kim McKinley and Bart Jackson of B. Jackson Construction, the firm that’ll handle the work.
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- Syracuse and UTOPIA Fiber representatives held a ceremony on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, to launch development of a new broadband network in the city. Syracuse Mayor Mike Gailey, right, speaks at the ceremony while UTOPIA Executiver Director Roger Timmerman looks on.
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Syracuse and UTOPIA Fiber representatives held a ceremony on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, to launch development of a new broadband network in the city. Ceremonially breaking ground, from left, are UTOPIA Executiver Director Roger Timmerman, Syracuse City Manager Brady Bovero (partially hidden), Syracuse Mayor Mike Gailey, Syracuse City Councilperson Jordan Savage, UTOPIA Chief Marketing Officer Kim McKinley and Bart Jackson of B. Jackson Construction, the firm that'll handle the work.
SYRACUSE — UTOPIA Fiber is keeping up its rapid pace of expansion in Davis County as officials in cities across Weber County weigh the future of broadband in their locales.
Leaders from Syracuse and UTOPIA gathered Friday to formally launch construction of the new $23.5 million broadband network the community-owned entity will build in the northern Davis County city, expanding locals’ broadband options.
Those living in the city will go from having “not-the-greatest broadband options” to among the best options in the country, said Roger Timmerman, the UTOPIA executive director. Comcast and Century Link now serve Syracuse, among many other locales in Northern Utah, but they don’t reach all corners of the city.
A construction timeline on the UTOPIA website estimates the first Syracuse neighborhood will be equipped with a UTOPIA broadband network by the second quarter of 2022, with the rest to follow through the end of the year.
UTOPIA also manages broadband networks in Clearfield, Layton and West Point, among other Davis County cities, and Morgan in Morgan County. Officials from UTOPIA have met with leaders from numerous Weber County cities, including North Ogden, Pleasant View, Roy, West Haven, South Ogden and Washington Terrace, but as of yet, none have opted to get a UTOPIA network.
Syracuse and UTOPIA Fiber representatives held a ceremony on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, to launch development of a new broadband network in the city. Syracuse Mayor Mike Gailey, right, speaks at the ceremony while UTOPIA Executiver Director Roger Timmerman looks on.
“We’re in discussions with several communities in Weber County,” Timmerman said. Weber State University and some local schools use UTOPIA services, even if UTOPIA doesn’t have a built-out network in the county.
Even so, discontent seems to be simmering across Northern Utah with incumbent broadband operators like Comcast and Century Link, due to Internet speed issues and inaccessibility in some corners. That has sparked talks with UTOPIA and other providers like Connext Broadband in many cities as they weigh their alternatives.
Internet accessibility “has become a critical service,” Timmerman said. “We need to make sure everyone has access to it.”
Syracuse Mayor Mike Gailey, who took part in Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony, said most Syracuse respondents to a survey on the matter backed the move to bring in UTOPIA. Talks on the issue date to 2019 and city leaders mulled other operators.
“Our decision was belabored about over two years,” Gailey said.
When UTOPIA builds, its networks will pass all the homes in the cities it covers, unlike other operators which may bypass zones with fewer potential customers. The standard UTOPIA operating procedure calls for bonding to cover network construction costs by its sister agency, UIA, backed by the particular city where the system is being installed. Subscriber revenue is tapped to cover bond costs, thus requiring no out-of-pocket costs by cities, presuming enough residents sign up for the service.
In the case of the Syracuse network, UTOPIA needs 30% percent of households to sign up for Internet service via the new network to generate the funds needed to cover bonding costs. Officials anticipate 45% will sign up.
Residents aren’t obligated to get Internet service through UTOPIA. If they do, however, they may pick from any of a number of actual internet service providers — private entities that use the open-access UTOPIA network to actually connect customers to the Internet.
“This is a facilitator of the private sector,” Timmerman said. “We enable the private sector.”
Because of limited coverage, officials in West Haven earlier this year sought proposals for development of a broadband network in the city from outside operators. UTOPIA was one of two entities to submit bids.
City Manager Matt Jensen, though, said officials are still weighing options. Another possibility, he said, is joining forces with other cities to jointly come up with a solution to limited Internet accessibility.
North Ogden officials discussed the issue last September. Minutes from the Sept. 14 North Ogden City Council meeting indicate City Council members want to consider additional alternatives aside from UTOPIA.
“The council acknowledged the need to improve broadband service in the city but indicated that UTOPIA is not the only option,” the minutes from the meeting read. Rather, city leaders want to weigh other possibilities. UTOPIA, based in Murray, is building or operating networks in 17 Utah cities.