Utah Officials Stress Challenges of Running Municipal Networks
Municipal telecom networks involve struggle, two leaders responsible for such systems said Tuesday. Utah officials have embarked in recent years on multiple attempts at municipal networks, both as part of the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) and the iProvo network in Provo. Google recently partnered with that city to take over the network and build out the community as one of its Google Fiber cities (CD April 22 p4). Todd Marriott, CEO of UTOPIA, and Provo Mayor John Curtis described the challenges of running such networks in terms of civic responsibility, finances and the political and public challenges, in a live video discussion hosted by the Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday.
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Running UTOPIA can be “somewhat schizophrenic,” Marriott said. He was referring to the battle between the business imperatives and the political imperatives of the fiber network, a consortium of several cities throughout the state. The fiber should be seen as critical infrastructure, he said, noting political imperatives associated with building out to all the neighborhoods.
But the finances of UTOPIA have faced many questions over the years, as Marriott acknowledged when talking about a controversial state audit done last fall (CD Aug 10 p7). Eleven of UTOPIA’s 15 member cities have pledged tax dollars in the venture, which has built out its network about 40 percent and cost more than $200 million. UTOPIA “welcomed” the audit, he said: “We didn’t see it as negative at all. ... They found nothing nefarious, they found nothing untoward.” The No. 1 priority is moving toward a break-even point, which may happen within the next three to five years, he said. UTOPIA should maintain an “impressive, steady approach,” said Marriott.
Until Google Fiber partnered with Provo, the municipality suffered many challenges in the costs of the network it was building. “I suppose for decades to come in Provo we'll be debating whether we should have done this,” Curtis said of the attempt. He referred to the network as an endeavor “that we had not been able to finish.” He welcomed the talks with Google that began half a year ago, he said, speculating on why the city couldn’t successfully manage the network: “We do really well at building streets and parks and sewers.” The “technology doesn’t change,” he said, whereas Google executives “understand the technology.” At the time, he wasn’t prepared to “ask my taxpayers” for another bond to support the network, he said.
Google sees potential for profit, Curtis said. “They don’t do things to lose money.” Google Fiber Vice President-Access Services Milo Medin also said the company sees its infrastructure investments as part of a strategy to make money, at the May Fiber to the Home Council Americas meeting in Kansas City, Mo. (CD June 3 p13). Google liked “the forward-thinking nature” of both Provo and Utah as a whole, Curtis said of the UTOPIA efforts as well as iProvo. UTOPIA has also been involved in talks with Google for years, sharing best practices, Marriott said. UTOPIA said in a blog post that it doesn’t “feel threatened” by Google’s Provo partnership and that it invites more discussion of faster network speeds (http://bit.ly/13DrbRu).
"It is a problem,” Marriott said of UTOPIA’s public image, mired in talk of its finances as well as the municipal debate. The best solution will be “fulfilling those commitments that were made” and continuing a course toward breaking even and providing a good network, he said.
The officials said politics is a challenge for municipal telecom networks. In Provo, the network was “fraught with a lot of politics,” Curtis said. Marriott also pointed to politics in the state and mentioned those at work in last fall’s audit. He cited the tension between the political and business roles and mentioned UTOPIA’s openness toward working with private companies and investment. “We shouldn’t do for the people what the people can do for themselves,” he said. Given UTOPIA’s role, the municipal involvement makes sense, and the project’s analysis has shown that shutting down the network now, despite some of its challenges, would be “a horrible option” likely to cost taxpayers more, he said.