Reader comments
iProvo panel is critical of operations

While iProvo can budget its expenses, it must rely on others for its revenue thanks to legislation passed by the Utah Legislature while iProvo was being built. No one who works for Provo City can sell retail services which is left to the service providers. If they don't meet their projections, there is little the City can do about it other than extol the virtures of the network and provide encouragment to the service providers.

That's exactly what they have done to manage the providers poor performance - LITTLE! When they don't pay their bills they need to suffer the consequences just like the rest of us. No one will pay if they know they can get away with it.

I attended the commitee meeting last week and heard that revenues from other communications companies such as Qwest for the purpose of Energy department services such as pole attachments and cell tower lease space have been diverted to iProvo. The council seemed surprised at this. I have no idea how much money is involved here, but it is scary that it could happen without council oversight.

It is also scary that iProvo still can't make budget even with this "free revenue". iProvo management does not appear to be accountable to anyone.

This blue ribbon commitee has an opportunity to make a difference here. Please don't set back and allow yourselves to be sweet talked by the administration and iProvo management as has happened to the council for so many years. It is time get this ship back on course.

A lot has been made of the annual losses, but it seems that nobody has really been reading the reports from CCG and Franklin Court. I spent several hours reading both of them to find that the city and its residents stand to save a combined $8M+ annually from the anticipated uses of the network. That's a net benefit of $6M annually. Failing to report this is doing the public a grave disservice.

While Provo can't be a retail provider they can figure out who their customer is...and it isn't Provo's citizens. They have an amazing infrastructure that has been shopped to two providers. Provo needs to sell the system to 15-20 other providers to use the infrastructure in a vast majority of ways. The city has been sobbing way too long about not being able to be in control of the retail outcomes. Poor vision. Poor management. And no idea of who their real customer is has compounded the problem. Make it attractive for other companies to get on this system. To borrow an analogy, what Provo has done is akin to allowing two trucks delivering goods onto a super highway with multiple lanes and expecting the traffic to cover the cost of the highway construction. Shortsighted, limited thinking. Then use the system for the city's benefit. I don't doubt it can be profitable. I just doubt this administration's ability to manage this asset.

Jesse, do you really thing the city has a justified expenditure of $6-$8 million per year for the telecom services that they can buy from iProvo? I don't think so. They can pin any number on this that they want since there is no bidding and no history. Of course bidding is required by ordinance. This is exactly why government should stay out of business. These would be made-up services that have not been purchased in the past for anything like this amount. It really becomes an illegal subsidy to a "business" that competes with the private sector. If they are going to pay for iProvo from the general budget and tax dollars, at least keep it honest and in the light of public scrutiny.