We’d like to think that incumbents are a well-oiled lobbying machine, but they often do things so ham-fisted and amateurish that you’re left wondering if Gomer Pyle is in charge. This week is proving no different. After getting a legislator who took their money to propose cutting off UTOPIA at the kneecaps, CenturyLink announced that they would be offering gigabit service to office parks along the Wasatch Front. You know, the same ones that HB60 really wants to keep UTOPIA from providing service to.
So let’s recap our timeline here:
- CenturyLink sends campaign cash to a legislator.
- Said legislator runs a bill to kick UTOPIA out of business parks that paid to have the service built to them.
- CenturyLink comes in behind that and sells their own service, most likely at a much higher cost. This includes state agencies such as UDOT, UEN, and UTA.
Could it be any more obvious as to what’s going on around here? CenturyLink has convinced a legislator, Rep Curt Webb, to run a bill to kick their competition out so that they can take those customers. I’m furious about that arrangement. You should be too. It’s time to yell about this one from the rooftops.
