Author Archives: Jesse

Veracity Deploying ADSL2+ in Downtown Salt Lake City

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Not content to roll out ADSL2+ in American Fork, Veracity has announced that its ADSL2+ product is going to start landing in downtown Salt Lake City (warning: press release, superlatives ahead). There’s no information on pricing or speeds, but I would anticipate that both will be highly competitive. The initial footprint is supposed to cover 10,000 homes and businesses, though it’s not entirely clear which neighborhoods will see the service or when. It’s not UTOPIA, and it’s not fiber-to-the-home, but it’s definitely an improvement over the staid duopoly offerings currently in Salt Lake.

iProvo to go back to the city, Veracity will lease for 14 months

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In an unsurprising move, Veracity Networks will transfer ownership of the iProvo network back to the city of Provo as it has been unable to generate enough revenue to make the purchase feasible. Provo has already instituted a monthly utility charge to all residents and businesses in the city to pay for the current debt load on the network. Veracity will continue to operate the network under a 14-month lease agreement, paying Provo $95,000 per month plus a cut of revenue from future subscribers. Interestingly, all customer revenues are going into an escrow account that will pay the city before Veracity gets its share and the city will be responsible for all network infrastructure costs including installations.

The agreement has been framed as a chance for Provo to figure out what it wants to do, and there doesn’t appear to be anything ruled out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see new providers added to the network, or for the city to seek out new partnerships, either with another private company or a public entity like UTOPIA. The final vote will be on March 20.

UTOPIA Lands DISH Network

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In a huge move, UTOPIA has just announced that national satellite provider DISH Network is now a provider on the network. Scoring an A-list provider in the telecom space is a major coup and could very well prompt other established operators to sign up as providers. Packages through DISH will include Blockbuster streaming and their own brand of TV Everywhere, Sling, that will allow you to watch programs on your smartphone or tablet.

See below for the full press release. Continue reading →

Broadband Bytes for 2012-02-25

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Press Release: UTOPIA Event in Centerville

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With Internet Service Faster Than a Centerville Wind,

UTOPIA Wires City’s Businesses for the Future

 

Centerville’s Mayor, UTOPIA and Wired Businesses Hold “Fiber Friday” Event

to Demonstrate Benefits of Fiber Optics

 

Consider these dilemmas faced daily by Utah businesses:

 

  • ·         An advertising agency has recently given employees the choice to work from home one day a week—a great morale booster that also reduces driving and improves air quality. But the need to send large graphics files back and forth makes it practically impossible because the internet connections at both the business and the employee’s home are too slow. The employee has no choice but to abandon what was supposed to be a great idea.

Continue reading →

Zombie Bill: SB112 Substitute Sails Through the Senate

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As many bills up on capitol hill do, SB112 came back from the dead after some tweaking and passed the Senate on a 20-8-1 vote. It’s now with the House, though it’s not yet on the reading calendar for a vote. While the tax break for cable operators isn’t as large as before, the premise of the bill is still fundamentally flawed as it does not consider a franchise fee to be payment for right-of-way. Make sure you call your member of the House and tell them to oppose this bill!

SB112 Fails in the Senate

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SB112, the bill that would give cable companies a large tax advantage in the state of Utah, died on the Senate floor today in a 12-16 vote. While this doesn’t guarantee that a modified version of the bill won’t come back up for discussion, it seem less likely as the $7M price tag was a bit too much for the Senate to swallow. I think we can safely consider this one dead and buried for this session.