Reader comments
Provo eyes ways to fix its network

So now it comes down to raising my electric bills to pay for this iProvo mess. So Provo will take my money and give it away to the service providers who don't pay their bills and don't know how to compete. By the way, does this $2 million shortfall include the $1 million dollars that the providers have not paid? I will bet not. So why don't we talk about it being $3 million dollars like it will really be?

What happens when the city starts paying all this money for "other" iProvo services? That just means that every other city agency is now coming up short and must cut services or raise more money. So on it goes costing more and more and what has actually been done to make this new business profitable? Nothing! It is just an elaborate shell game.

I am entirely sick of this albatross around our necks in Provo. I suggest Billings resign and take his pet project with him. It's a complete failure and there is no way they should further raise taxes to pay for it. They've already cost Provo's citizens by stealing money from every budget they can. Sick of it!

Provo is committed on this project. The network is built and the bond payments WILL be paid by the city.

The Mayor is right, selling is only a good option if the city were able to sell for something close to what they owe. If they sold now and did not get near what they own, they would still be making the payments of the millions or tens of millions(?) difference. If they improve the network subscriber numbers, increase uses (meter reading, etc), (as suggested by the Mayor and two independent outside consultants) and THEN sell (when the corn is ready to harvest) they will be much better off.

iProvo has trouble and needs the support of Provo citizens....not panic selling. The best way to help iProvo is to sign up and keep your money in Provo and not send it to Denver (Qwest) or Penn. (Comcast).

Perhaps the power to fix iProvo and get it ready for a sale rests more in the hands of Provo residents (by signing up) than the Mayor or Council.

Doesn't matter what they owe buddy, Provo should sell this thing for whatever it's worth. They've shown they don't have the ability run this thing profitably (as many people predicted).

Time to let private companies do what they do best. Bureaucrats like to dabble, but it inevitably leads to the taxpayers bearing the cost of their hubris.

Yet another example of Provo's complete lack of understanding of what types of infrastructure the city needs. "Let's come up with a mediocre digital network to 'compete' with all of the many experts in the industry whose standards we can't hope to meet." Sounds like a great use of time and money, Billings and company! Not like there's anything else to worry about.

you create a product that nobody wants and
what do you get...... debt
own up to it, get rid of it.

As a current iProvo customer (until my contract is up and I can leave without eating the cost), I've got to say that unless they improve customer service and their offering, it's going to be hard to attract/keep customers. If Mayor Billings wants to get iProvo out of the red, maybe he should look at making it a worthwhile offering.

I've had enough of this junk called iProvo. I have been in multiple City Council meetings where they quickly vote to "steal" from another budget to pay for the mayor's pet albatross. They are stealing money from Provo's kids because the Parks in Provo are the worst in the state! Schools are also underfunded. Why should I, as a resident of Provo, dig into my pocket for a service that is nowhere near as trustworthy as what I can get from Qwest or Comcast and costs more?

I used to have full iProvo service until we decided we really didn't want to pay for cable, and we eliminated our land line in favor of cell phones only. We kept only the Internet service, and it's (so far) reasonably priced and generally works fine. My main complaint is not with iProvo itself, but with MStar, which has HORRIBLE customer service. Emailing them NEVER gets a response, and calling means you're on the phone for 30 minutes waiting to talk to someone.

I don't know if iProvo can make a go of it, but they have no business asking the city residents to subsidize it.

I love the iProvo service. I have never had a problem with it. Qwest and Comcast were much less reliable then my iProvo service has ever been. I have recommended iProvo to anyone who has asked my opinion and everyone I recommended it to loves the service.

The best thing the residents of Provo can do is support the project. If you you are so concerned about doing what is best financially for the city then help get the project out of debt. That will be better the complaining and try to sell and make the city lose even more money.

Re: Captain Video and Happy Customer. It is a "nice" social thought to say that we should just spend our dollars in Provo and not buy products offered by companies with interests outside of Provo. However, this idea has been tried and this idea has failed on both a small and large scale many times over. Don't repeat the already bad history. The broken economies of eastern europe and latin america are stark examples. Let free enterpise work. The market will always produce the best products at the best price. Get rid of the political socialists that are just trying to stay in power at the expense of the people. BTW the report by "independent consultants" is managed.
Don't be fooled.

I have iProvo internet and love it. Customer service was a problem in the past but they are much quicker now to respond. Maybe they should ditch the phone and TV service and just provide internet. It seems to work well.

Capt. Video. You say Provo is committed to this project. I say fine. Are they committed to making it profitable? What earth-shaking adjustment have they made to the situation in order to make it profitable. The best they can come up with is making all of the other city departments subsidize this project. Is it fair to Comcast or Qwest to have to compete with this government subsidy to Iprovo? If Iprovo cannot stand on its own and compete fairly, it is doomed. They should look for a buyer.

Captain Video, having been a top employee for iProvo, how can you now be its biggest supporter when you were part of the management problem?