Tag Archives: iProvo

Qwest Thinking VDSL2, Could Be Too Little, Too Late

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The biggest black eye in Qwest’s attempt to bring their broadband offerings into the 21st century has been the abysmal 896Kbps upload speeds, even when using ADSL2+ and FTTN. According to some insider posts at DSLReports, that may change. According to the tipster, Qwest is looking at VDSL2 with plans to bump the upload speeds to 5Mbps with a new top tier pushing 40Mbps/20Mbps. Even so, it’s not enough to catch up to UTOPIA or even Comcast.

The real question is if Qwest can afford any kind of widespread deployment. Since the company couldn’t unload its long-haul operations for anywhere near the asking price, Qwest is where it always has been: too deep in debt, too cash poor, and hemmoraging landline customers to VoIP, cable, and wireless carriers. They halted the current ADSL2+ installs citing that the winter weather was preventing them from continuing the build, but we all know it’s cash flow issues. Like a lot of analysts, I think Qwest is going to continue to wither until they find a cash-rich investor looking for a fixer-upper.

And if Qwest is more-or-less at a standstill, what are the odds of Comcast dropping DOCSIS 3.0 tiers in Utah? Pretty slim unless you live in Provo or a UTOPIA city where fiber is prodding them forward. It’s no secret that Comcast has, to date, focused network upgrades most heavily on areas where Verizon’s FIOS is the king of speed. As half of the duopoly crumbles, you can expect more of the same from Comcast: ho-hum speeds, mediocre pricing, and lackluster customer service (their Twitter damage control unit customer service team notwithstanding).

Utah Tops In Internet Adoption, But What About Speeds?

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The Deseret News reported that Utah has the highest rate of Internet use of any state, topping out at 74.8% of homes. In a “well duh” moment, they attribute it to the young population and large concentration of tech companies. What was missing, however, is the full picture on how we’re doing speed-wise.

And that, friends, is a mixed bag. According to the results from SpeedTest.net, Utah doesn’t even crack the top 10 for download speeds. We do, however, place second when it comes to upload speeds, no doubt due to symmetrical connections available on the various fiber networks in our state. When you narrow in on our state, the best download and upload speeds come from Lindon and Orem, both cities with UTOPIA fiber. Provo comes in fourth on both lists with Broadweave/iProvo. Incumbents don’t fare so well. Qwest doesn’t crack either top 10 list and Comcast only makes the download list.

We should be demanding not just that Internet access be widespread, but that it be high-quality as well. The incumbents’ inability to deliver next-generation bandwidth is leaving us far behind the rest of the pack.

Egg on Your Face: Rep. Frank and the UTA Play Loose With the Truth

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The UTA recently released a report that UTOPIA will be calling on tax pledges this year. They cite an April statement from Murray Mayor Dan Snarr as their sole evidence. “At this point in time, no tax dollars have been used on this project. That may change, and we may need to help pay for some of the operations until there are enough customers to cover expenses.” Rep. Craig Frank was all too willing to quickly attach himself to this report as solid truth. The problem for the UTA (and by extension Rep. Frank), however, is that this is their only evidence, this statement has been repeated over and over since the refinancing (elected officials need to hedge their bets), and there’s no way it would be possible for UTOPIA to call on pledge dollars anytime this year.

The facts are simple. UTOPIA does not have a bond payment due from operating revenue until June 2010. There is absolutely no possible way that they can legally call on the sales tax pledges this year as the UTA asserts. Elected officials have been saying the same thing as Mayor Snarr for the last year to cover their own butts in a worst case scenario. The UTA is just trying to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt without citing any new or relevant facts. It’s scaremongering, pure and simple.

If UTOPIA is really doing so poorly, how is it that they managed to sign on Integra Telecom, a company that measures its revenues in the hundreds of millions? Don’t you think a company of that caliber (which is likely going to bring in hundreds of thousands or millions in new revenue) would do their due diligence? And how is it that there’s no criticism for city-owner power or the horrendously botched sale of iProvo? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Seems like you folks like to reserve your criticism for easy targets.

The Top Ten Hardest Lessons Learned From Utah Municipal Networks

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It’s amazing that a rural state nestled in the heart of the Mountain West is where we’re seeing some of the biggest innovations in community broadband. And yet the woes of UTOPIA and iProvo, the latter of which was sold to a private company last year, seem to be what’s making the front page news. Despite a series of missteps, the future of open wholesale access looks bright… so long as we’re willing to learn some hard lessons. Here’s what I’ve learned from watching Utah’s municipal networks.

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Is Broadweave Charging Big Install Fees?

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A blog post showed up in my Google Alerts from a Provo resident who claims that Broadweave may be charging big-time install fees for customers not already wired to iProvo. Per the poster’s account, they called on behalf of a neighbor and was told that any home not already hooked up would be assessed a $600 install fee. A lot of people hammered on UTOPIA for their install fee trial balloon and they responded with low install fees (if any) and a slightly higher but still competitive monthly rate to compensate. Broadweave had better smart up and take a play from that book.

Broadweave: No Cash for New Subs, Reserve Will Still Be Used for Bond Payments

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The Daily Herald quotes Broadweave’s acting CEO David Moon as saying that Broadweave doesn’t have the capital to agressively sign up new customers right now. The money required to hook up hundreds of new customers each month just isn’t there and they plan to continue making bond payments from the reserve fund for the next eight to ten months. This move will end up spending over half of the reserve fund on the bond payments and, unless replenished, puts Provo in danger of picking up the pieces should Broadweave default on any payments when it runs out.

I’m having a tough time figuring out how Broadweave can’t make rent. The price increases of around $5 per month per service would have been enough to break even under city ownership, but Broadweave is also taking in all of the retail revenues. Where is all of the money going? And just how short is Broadweave on making those bond payments with its own money? I’m guessing very far out based on how long they intend to keep on using the reserve fund. Broadweave was given what should have been a slam-dunk sweetheart deal and they’ve somehow managed to bungle it all up. Good luck filling the CEO slot, guys.

Provo Gets Black Eye Over Sale of iProvo

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The Society of Professional Journalists gave Provo an award, but not the kind they would want to get. The city received the 2009 Black Hole Award for repeatedly refusing to provide documents concerning the sale of iProvo to reporters from the Salt Lake Tribune. The failure to provide documents prevented newspapers and citizens from being able to review the terms of the sale prior to a vote by the city council. As I’ve repeatedly said, the failure to allow everyday citizens to review the full terms of the sale and the conditions under which it was negotiated combined with the rush for a quick vote was highly suspect. I suppose we all know that now with the multiple bond payments that have been made from a line of credit designed to protect the city should Broadweave fail.

BREAKING: Nuvont Selling iProvo Customers to Broadweave

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A solid source tells me that Nuvont is selling their iProvo customers to Broadweave effective today. Nuvont will retain its VoIP and Internet customers on UTOPIA and remain a service provider there. This isn’t much of a surprise given that Broadweave would likely not negotiate an extension of existing contracts. Nuvont has reportedly already moved many of the video customers to satellite, so Broadweave will be gaining mainly single-play and double-play customers.

BREAKING: Broadweave CEO Steve Christensen to Step Down as CEO, Leave Company Today

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Inside sources confirm the rumor from a month ago: Steve Christensen will leave his position as CEO of Broadweave and will not longer be a part of the company effective today. After months of relying on the line-of-credit to make the bond payment and facing an increasingly hostile HOA in Traverse Mountain, investors at EsNet are rumored to be taking over operations and exerting much greater control over the company to protect their investment. I say it’s about time.

This change in leadership can only be a good thing. Steve always struck me as a used car salesman in a better suit, all too willing to believe his own inflated hype. In contrast, I hear the guys from EsNet are very savvy and know how to run a business. Maybe this ship can finally be turned around.

Rumor: Management Shake-Up at Broadweave

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Word around the campfire is that EsNet isn’t very happy with how Broadweave is doing and plans to find a new operations manager as part of taking a more active role in the company. I’ve confirmed with with two sources, so it seems pretty solid. One of the sources claims that CEO Steve Christensen may be out of a job as part of the reorganization. It’s good to hear that EsNet is trying to fix what’s broken but will it be enough to right the ship? There haven’t been any reports of it so far, but I’m willing to bet that Broadweave made their bond payment from the reserve fund yet again and is on-track to do so next month.