A reliable source passed along a rumor that Broadweave’s troubles in Traverse Mountain are about to come to an end, but not in the way the company would like. Residents, after years of not getting video and being required to purchase phone service that many don’t use, are reportedly about to have the HOA sever the contract with Broadweave for data and voice services. Given the amount of griping I’ve seen on the Traverse Mountain Community forum, it’s not surprising to see this happen. I find it ironic that Broadweave cited high customer satisfaction in TM as a reason they were well-suited to operate iProvo.
Of particular interest is that the HOA is also rumored to be negotiating with several new service providers to replace Broadweave, including UTOPIA. If UTOPIA is being considered and ultimately wins the contract, residents would get immediate competition and triple-play services. (Side note: the administrator of the TM forum is apparently a UTOPIA employee who left iProvo.) It’s anyone’s guess as to if the rumor is true or not, but it makes sense given UTOPIA’s relationships with existing service providers and backbone proximity to the community.
I have also heard this rumor and believe that this is well underay. It would be very advantageous to Traverse Ridge to jump to Utopia ASAP. Utopia would be their best choice for getting a decent service that even includes video.
It still amazes me that Provo Mayor Billings and Energy Director Garlick were able to convince anyone that Broadweave was qualified to take over iProvo and this turn of events is just further confirmation of the huge mistake that it was.
Look, I’m not against UTOPIA. I like the idea of these cities getting together and setting up their own broadband system. What I do NOT like is the fact that they are starting to compete out of their cities. Isn’t that always been the complaint about the Big Telcos?? That they used government money to build their network and now they have an unfair competetive advantage???
UTOPIA is not building outside of pledging cities with any of their own money. If you’re not in a pledging city, you have to cough up the cost to install it *and* have a guarantee that there will be enough subscribers to not cause any kind of revenue drag. Nobody’s taking away from the pledging cities regardless of what kind of spin Qwest/Comcast/Frontier/UTA tries to put on it.
It would be silly for UTOPIA to refuse those customers who ask to get on board, especially when they don’t have to shell out a dime. They’ve already had that arrangement with home builders for a long time now. Hamlett Homes even built the network out to one of their neighborhoods in South Salt Lake.
I should also point out that UTOPIA in Traverse Mountain is at the rumor stage. It could be true, it could be just wishful thinking. While many of the rumors I post end up happening, everyone has a swing-and-a-miss every now and again.
Jesse- That’s very interesting, but you didn’t answer my question…, as UTOPIA grows, how are they going to be any different than the Big Bad Telcos?
A large part of the duopoly problem is because the telcos and cablecos operate both the wholesale and retail aspects of the network. Since UTOPIA is wholesale-only, I don’t think we’ll see the same kind of practices. You won’t be beholden to a particular service provider in order to take advantage of the technology (like Qwest does with ADSL2+). That goes a lot way towards ensuring that they won’t be the same beast.
Is Traverse Mountain in Highland city?
Regardless is Traverse Mountain in a Utopia Pledged city?
How is this rumor going to be true if the city isn’t in with Utopia already…
Traverse Mountain is in Lehi and no, Lehi is not a pledging city. For the rumor to be true, the Traverse Mountain HOA would have to pony up the money to attach their network to UTOPIA.
Oh, so to be on Utopia you don’t have to pledge as a City, just some body of houses?
I am not sure that’s correct, or if allowed, feasable for an HOA (even the size of Traverse Mountain)?
In theory, a Special Assessment Area should allow for such a thing. Word on the street is that Brigham City is working on one to complete their build-out.
Once again, please try and report and not give a blinded/slanted opinion. A favorite line from one of my favorite poets Alexander Pope.
“A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.”
Drink deep and make sure you understand completely what you are talking about before you start spouting off. This makes the difference between the fools and the wise. If you start talking about things you don’t fully understand, you just look foolish. At least I’ve learned that in my own life.
For Broadweave to leave Traverse Mountain would be a mess. I know you can’t understand that technically but it would be the case. It would be sad for TM residents to go through another change. That’s my opinion. TM customers have had the most solid service of probably any provider in the state. It would be sad if it got changed. That’s my two cents for what it’s worth. Jessie, hope you don’t take offense to what I say but I’m just trying to help out your career if you’re trying for a career of some sorts.
Jeremy: I’m not a journalist, I’m a blogger. Bloggers have lots of strong opinions in great quantity. We post rumor and hearsay to see if it’s true, especially if it comes from a reliable source. Sometimes I end up with a follow-up post to refute or clarify like I did when the rumor of Nuvont’s demise surfaced and turned out to be false. And yes, I can be incredibly snarky in my posts, but no more so than any other blogger. Given the traffic stats of the site, I’d say what I do is working out just fine.
I leave comments on for a reason. If someone knows something I don’t or has information/opinions contrary to my own, they’re welcome to post away. It’s annoying, though, to have someone post vague insults from behind a pseudonym. All the same, I think the majority of visitors will recognize it for what it is.
Yes, TM leaving will probably be a mess. I’ve heard that a battle over ownership of the phone switch is all but guaranteed. But hey, isn’t that for the residents to decide? They’re already frustrated at being contractually obligated to buy phone services that many don’t use and not have TV after 4+ years and the acquisition of a video headend a year ago. I guess they figured that the pain of switching is less than the pain of staying. I haven’t heard anything about Broadweave trying to assuage residents; I don’t know if that’s because nobody is talking about it or it didn’t happen.
My career is grounded in neither journalism nor telecommunications, so I doubt this site will have too much of an effect on it. Because of this site, I’ve been quoted multiple times in the media including the Tribune, DesNews, Daily Herald, City Weekly, Standard-Examiner, and even Broadband Properties Magazine. Several of the service providers on UTOPIA talk to me on a somewhat regular basis. I don’t feel like I’m stunting myself and there’s a fair number of other muni fiber advocates who seem to think I’m providing a valuable service.
For the record, I don’t have a high opinion of the company as a whole or of much of their management, but users seem to think Broadweave is about on-par with Comcast. (I’ll leave it to readers to determine if this is a compliment or an insult; I’m not sure either.) Broadweave doesn’t appear interested in doing much in the way of image management and, instead, their employees show up here to snipe at me personally without offering any clarifying details or intellectual illumination.
I said a lot of nasty things about Veracity in the past and you know what they did? They invited me to their office, gave me a tour, and offered clarifications and corrections to things I had said. That made a world of difference in how I perceived the company. I’m not saying that Broadweave should/would do such a thing (I’m pretty sure I’ll never be on the Christmas card list), but their public relations management stinks. A lot of other companies have directly engaged critics with great success and Broadweave should take a page from their book.