A UTOPIA marketing plan timed to coincide with a finance overhaul is meant to keep tax money from ever being used on fiber optics, the plan's architect said.

The plan will be an integrated approach combining "all the best tactics" to educate the public about the fiber network, said Chris Hogan, consultant and marketing director for the public utility.

Advertisements on television, radio, through direct mail and other media outlets will tout the blazing-fast upload and download speeds available through the municipal fiber-optic network. They will also provide basic information about the network and its structure, explaining that the open network allows for several retail firms to compete with one another.

Thus far, UTOPIA has left marketing up to the retail firms.

"People are not fully or even remotely aware of what UTOPIA is," Hogan said.

Retail firms such as MStar and XMission will be expected to advertise the specific benefits they offer. UTOPIA hopes that competition will control price and quality, thus benefiting consumers and increasing sign-up rates.

The UTOPIA ads will introduce the fact that 40 percent of a neighborhood will have to agree to subscribe to UTOPIA before it is built in a neighborhood. The market-driven approach aligns with industry best practices, Hogan said.

The new approach will include an option for consumers to borrow money for connection fees. UTOPIA plans to charge the entire connection fee at start-up rather than folding those fees into monthly rates, Hogan said. The Utah Taxpayers Association has estimated the connection fees could reach $2,200.

The advertising plan has been presented to the 11 Utah cities that make up UTOPIA. They are Brigham City, Centerville, Layton, Lindon, Midvale, Murray, Orem, Payson, Perry, Tremonton and West Valley City.

Council members from the cities will vote on a plan in the next two weeks to replace UTOPIA's funding of $121 million in 20-year bonds with $185 million in 33-year bonds.

The cities have been asked to back their decisions with sales tax revenues, which they will put aside in case bond payments can't be made. The cities' total responsibility could reach $504 million.

UTOPIA advertising could begin as early as June of this year, Hogan said. Advertising widely, even to customers for whom fiber connections are unavailable, will speed the installation of infrastructure, Hogan said.

By March, UTOPIA was two years behind schedule in building, interim director Jim Reams told the Midvale City Council.

Both the advertising and refinance plans have garnered criticism from the taxpayers association and from Qwest, which competes with UTOPIA in providing high-speed Internet.

Both groups have opposed UTOPIA since its inception and believe that the cities involved should vote to sell the network.

Qwest Utah President Jerry Fenn said his company never plans to work with UTOPIA and intends to compete fiercely by spending up to $300 million in the Western states on fiber-to-the-node infrastructure.

The advertising plan may violate state law, which requires UTOPIA to work strictly on a wholesale level, added Utah Taxpayers Association Vice President Royce Van Tassell. If UTOPIA presses forward, lawsuits may follow.

---

E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com