Category Archives: UTOPIA

UTOPIA Video Coming Soon; Prime Time Scrambling to do STB Replacements

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Good news out of UTOPIA: the video product will be ready to launch as early as next week. Service providers will reportedly have a list of prices and channel lineups by Saturday in preparation for reselling to customers. I don’t have a list of the channel line-up, but I would bet it’s going to be competitive with both cable and satellite providers. Now that MSTAR/Prime Time won’t be the only video game in town, you’ll be free to grab triple-play any way you want it.

Speaking of Prime Time, the word on the street is that they’ve been rushing to upgrade all of the MSTAR STBs ahead of being cut off from Broadweave’s headend on May 1. With just two days left, sources tell me that some customers may experience a loss of service since there’s been so little time to do the swap. My understanding is that Prime Time is going to use their headend out of St. George rather than use UTOPIA’s new MPEG-4 headend. Have some patience with them.

UTOPIA in Perry: "Real Soon Now" Becomes July

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Forum commenter ALinPerry reports receiving a notice with his utility bill that UTOPIA will be going door-to-door in Perry next month to gauge interest in getting service. If interest is high enough, UTOPIA will finish the west side of town and add new subscribers as early as July. If you’ve been waiting for UTOPIA in Perry, keeps your eyes open for their reps.

UTOPIA in Layton

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The Standard has an article on UTOPIA’s launch in Layton with some more details as to how things are going. UTOPIA reportedly is available in an 1800-home footprint in Layton and is up to a 20% take rate so far with 40% of visited homes taking service. There’s now reportedly more than 8,000 subscribers, not a big increase from numbers about a year ago (7200), but it has taken a few months post-financing to really pick up steam.

UTOPIA Open House in Layton, March 17

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According to a flyer that a friend of mine received, Layton Mayor Steve Curtis and UTOPIA will be holding an Open House Tuesday, March 17th 2009 from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM.  Layton Mayor Steve Curtis and UTOPIA CEO Todd Marriott will be making brief comments at 11:00 AM.  This open house will be held at the “Woody” Woodland Park, 1505 North 25 East, in Layton Utah.

Update: Just got ahold of this flyer, and it says “Please join us in welcoming UTOPIA to Layton.  Come see the UTOPIA Mobile Command Center and enjoy a live demonstration of the incredible capabilities of the UTOPIA Network”.

SB205 Amended, No Longer Threatens RDA

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SB205 has passed the Senate today with amendments that clarify that RDA runds can’t be used to pay the debt service of a bond created by an interlocal agreement. The intent is that cities will not be able to funnel RDA money to pay off any existing bonds from UTOPIA. The amended bill text is available on the Legislature website (see lines 651-653b). As long as the bill doesn’t see any further modification in the House, I think Centerville and other cities who want to build fiber optic infrastructure with RDA money will be safe.

Prime Time Communications to Buy Out Mstar

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After months of rumors that Mstar has been looking to be acquired, it looks like Prime Time Communications, the newest provider, is the suitor. This gives Prime Time an instant customer base on UTOPIA and strengthens Mstar’s position as a triple-play provider. It comes at a cost, however. Now that Prime Time is the only triple-play provider, it means we’ll have to wait for UTOPIA’s wholesale video product, rumored to be ready next month, to see triple-play competition. I hope this means we’ll see rapid customer additions instead of the steadily eroding customer base that was Mstar’s hallmark for the last year.

Prime Time Communications Announced as New Triple-Play Provider on UTOPIA

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Chalk up another one for UTOPIA. Today they announced having scored Prime Time Communications as a new service provider and one that brings their own video product. Mstar now has some real triple-play competition including in the HD market. Prime Time is in a few private communities including Sun River in St. George and Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, NV.

UTOPIA in Brigham City: Open for Business

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A press release issued today makes it official: UTOPIA is ready to sign up customers in Brigham City. The open house is still on for 1PM today (though the press release already quotes those events with special time travel technology) to answer questions and make sure service is available to your home or business.

Centerville Inches Closer to RDA-Funded Fiber Hub Despite SB205 Threat

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Centerville is getting closer to using RDA money to build a fiber hub in the city even as the threat of Sen. Bramble’s RDA amendments loom. The city council was unanimuous in voting to draft final documents to make it all happen. Once built, it would rescue about $2M worth of “stranded investment” at a cost of around $100K.

Sen. Bramble’s boxcar legislation for the changes, SB205, may contain provisions that would allow such carrier-neutral infrastructure to be built with RDA money, but there’s still a very strong chance that the provision would be nixed and telecom spending banned outright. You’d better contact your state senators and representatives to make them aware of what’s coming.

UPDATE: The Standard-Examiner has more on the story.