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iProvo welcomes the debate

Why would a libertarian think tank in California be pushing so hard for the city to privatize iProvo? They realize that given time, it is going to become wildly successful and increase competition in the telecommunications industry.

The attacks by Steven Titch is ideologically driven, at best. At worst, he's doing favors for his friends at Qwest.

Give it time. Continue to sell its benefits to potential customers. It will come into the black.

Hats off to the iProvo staff! The iProvo system has always been a technical triumph. It is just a shame that the business model is sooo broken. Is selling the system, the only way to fix this? You could try a new approach with new management and a fresh business model or you could just keep doing the same thing again and again and wonder why the result are the same.

Having worked at a company that provided DSL equipment to the large carriers, from what I have read, iProvo is far and away superior. Large carriers resort to the customer complaining versus monitoring the network.
It costs money to set up a quality infrastructure. But in the end, it will be worth the investment.

It sounds like the promotion for iProvo has been focused incorrectly on the subscriber benefits. This is the first article I've read that said anything about benefits to non-subscribers, such as power outage tracking, etc. I agree. There needs to be more transparency and explanation of everything iProvo does.

Kudos to iProvo's staff. The Reason institute has a political agenda that most don't understand.

Infrastructure in a city is a key component to quality of life. No one questions why government pays for roads - perhaps the most key piece of infrastructure in our lives - no one asks "shouldn't we privatize streets our streets?"

Yet those like Reason ask those questions like their sensible.

Qwest and Comcast can and do (somewhat) provide similar services, yet their driving force is profit. Private contractors/developers could build and maintain streets/freeways/highways as well. So, should government get out of that aspect of infrastructure as well?

The reason people don't know about the benefits of the system is that the system has been socialized. If this were private enterprise, the owners would make sure they sold the system. But government doesn't do a good job of maximizing income and minimizing expenses. That's why government should avoid competing with private business -- if a business makes mistakes in failing to promote its benefits, investors pay for the losses. And when government competes with business, it only hurts private enterprise, removing the possibility of competition, which is good, driving all enterprise toward efficiency and effectiveness. Not only does government compete with private business, but it interferes with it. My word to all elected officials -- please treat all confiscated monies as sacred, to be used only for necessities and not for luxuries. Is is really necessary to build an information highway when private businesses seek to build it without taking away private and corporate income at the threat of prison and fines? Is it really necessary to build a Broadway style theater? Is it really necessary to make sure Dave Checketts makes a profit by funding a soccer stadium? Is it really necessary to build mass transit?

All these guys who want to privatize IProvo want a piece of that action. You can put the self serving George Stewart on the top of that list.

We have already spent way to much to back away now. Let's just stay the course. The city pays for plenty of things that show no prospect of a light at the end of the tunnel. The IProvo venture will eventually blossom for us.

DO NOT SELL OUR ONE BRIGHT LIGHT TO GEORGE STEWART, HIS CRONIES OR OTHERS OF HIS ILK.

Iprovo and Utopia are the best things going in Utah County. Don't sell them off. Provo Power is your best example of what local control can do for you.

The real issue is not the validity of iProvo folks. Anyone with a sane mind could tell you from the very beginning, before the State Legislators that were handsomely rewarded by Qwest and Comcast, that iProvo's originally blue print was not only viable but doable. What went wrong was the complete and utter mismanagement by Billings and Garlik. These two have completely run iProvo into the ground and now what? They are going to sell off iProvo to some no-name no record little five person group known as Broadweave out of Lehi in a very questionable deal and then walk, they think, back to their day jobs as Mayor and Energy Department director where more than 98% of the employees city-wide and in the dept. not only despise these two but have serious disdain for the pompous way in which they demand allegiance and perfection on hundred or thousand dollar projects, all while they micro-manage, and then they blow 50 million on iProvo and expect to just walk away. Apparently this Council and the rest of the citizens of Provo are ready to just let them do that. Do nothing, become nothing. You reap what you sew Provo Citizens!

Here is MaryT another George hater who doesn't know the real facts. The only ones that have actually asked for accounting on this boondoggle are George Stewart and Steve Turley. MaryT needs to learn the facts - this project has been not just poorly managed, but completely destroyed by Billings and Garlick and you just want to keep on hating George while ignoring reality and the facts. Another Provo Citizen who obviously hates the money they make and wants these two to continue to waste it.

Provo Power is the best example of local control? Where are your facts? Here is a fact: highest rates just a decade ago to the lowest rates now and we haven't raised rates in 20 plus years. So where is the problem. Either we were paying to much back then or not enough now. All of their big projects are suffering from lack of proper funding because this mayor believes it more important to have a political resume than a company that actually runs in the black. A company that actually has a good preventative maintenance program and keeps up with important infrastructure projects.