UTOPIA goes live in Layton

LAYTON — About 2,000 homes in Layton now have access to the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency's fiber-optic network.

In the past three weeks, 261 homes have purchased service on the network.

Chad Whitlock was first, joining about a month ago, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone more excited about the network.

"I practically yanked those salesmen through my front door," said Whitlock, who purchased a 10 megabit-per-second connection for a $110 one-time fee and $50 a month for a data line.

It's a speed that allows him to download movies in seconds or minutes, as well as send and receive large, high-resolution photos instantly.

"This is like the Christmas that would never come," he said.

Layton Mayor Steve Curtis said he's excited about the possibilities UTOPIA brings to his city, which is currently trying to lure high-tech businesses to a planned business park on the east side of Hill Air Force Base.

But Curtis regrets that more residents can't take advantage of the network, which is available to just 9 percent of Layton homes.

UTOPIA's sales crews offer packages with connections between 10 mbps and 100 mbps, though 100 likely wouldn't be necessary for homeowners.

Todd Marriott, UTOPIA's executive director, said the network has more than 8,000 customers.

Marriott said it feels good to be growing again, after UTOPIA construction had fallen to a standstill. In 2008, the network had 7,000 customers, and six of the 11 cities that have backed UTOPIA's bonds with sales-tax revenue had service through the network.

Now, only Centerville has yet to receive a fiber-optic hub and begin service. Marriott said he expects that to happen this year.

Riverton, Cedar Hills, Vineyard, Cedar City and Washington have joined the consortium as non-pledging members, which means they won't see service until revenues grow enough to pay for construction.

Tremonton has 500 customers. Brigham City has about 100.

"Our problem isn't people wanting the service," Marriott said. The problem, he said, is supplying the network to residents.

And because it's costly to build the network's infrastructure, UTOPIA is seeking federal stimulus money, because all of its projects are shovel-ready, Marriott said.

None of the cities have been called on to pay off UTOPIA's debt, but there's a chance that could happen, he said. But those payments would likely be for a short run.

That was a risk that cities who pledged tax revenue to the project were willing to take.

Laura Lewis, principal with Lewis Young Robertson and Burningham, UTOPIA's financial-advisory firm, said she believes that UTOPIA is moving in a positive direction by trying to get system revenues to cover debt service.

Marriott said the process of marketing UTOPIA's network to customers involves a strategic, surgical approach, instead of mass-marketing the network through traditional advertising. And it seems to be working, he said.

Once UTOPIA has three or four years of revenue that covers debt, Lewis said, she plans to restructure the debt to eliminate the cities' pledges as collateral.

E-MAIL: jdougherty@desnews.com