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Salt Lake City Plugs Into Fiber-Optic Network, Joins 17 Utah Cities
Utah’s largest city has joined the world’s largest proposed fiber-optics network that would connect directly to homes and businesses.
By Karyn Hsiao
The Salt Lake Tribune
On Thursday, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson signed his city into the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA), which envisions building a $400 million high-speed fiber-optic network among its member cities.
After laying the cables, the agency would open up the network to private companies and encourage competition among phone, television, cable and Internet service providers by wholesaling access to the fiber system.
Utah’s capital now adds its clout to the project and UTOPIA’s 17 founding cities — Brigham City, Cedar City, Cedar Hills, Centerville, Layton, Lindon, Midvale, Murray, Orem, Payson, Perry, Riverton, Roy, South Jordan, Taylorsville, Tremonton and West Valley City.
By banding together, the multicity consortium can negotiate discounts and favorable bond agreements, says UTOPIA Executive Director Paul Morris.
"We were large enough with the other cities to achieve a critical mass," he says, "but adding Salt Lake City puts us at a population of 725,000 with around 250,000 dwelling units and 30,000 businesses. And that is very good."
Salt Lake City Deputy Mayor Rocky Fluhart says the city has been considering joining UTOPIA for several months.
"We’ve been looking at it very carefully and assessing whether it would be appropriate and beneficial for residents, and we believe it will be," Fluhart said. "If we are successful, we will be one of the most wired cities in the country."
Fluhart says Salt Lake City currently has a "glut" of unused fiber optics downtown and needs to expand access to "tech-savvy" people in other parts of the community.
The City Council last week appropriated $185,000 to join UTOPIA, and Morris says $115,000 of that will pay for a feasibility study that will begin in April.
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