Sounds like we sold out to some "friends".

Why wasn't there an open bid process?

Sounds like socialism doesn't work.

It remains to be seen if the whole iProvo idea was the best way, but the fact is that the infrastructure is in place for anyone in Provo to have high speed internet and other services at a reasonable cost.

Provo is known for the "good old boys" attitude, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some shenanigans in deciding who to sell iProvo to, but the end result could well be that other cities will learn from the mistakes and successes of this attempt and be better for it. One thing for sure, high speed internet is becoming as important to modern life as electricity and telephone service became during the 20th century, and there were many ways government helped encourage all parts of the country to benefit, not just the most populated areas.

While I can appreciate the effort that goes into the sale, I sure hope Provo has a clause that allows then to take over the network if the independence of the network is compromised.
This was conceived as a utility and should always be treated as such. It should always be in the public trust. Kudos to Provo for being in the forefront of technology. Kudos to Mayor Billings for standing up to Qwest and Comcast and their lobbyists in the state and their influence in the editorial boards of the papers. As a former Provoan, I just wish I could get the service offered by iProvo. Unfortunately, Qwest offers what the average home in Provo gets for $50 to my community for $4000. Guess which city will grow the next Novell?

Mayor, Mayor, Mayor -- You pulled a fast one and sold us out. You finally caved into the opposition of the city council, the so-called "industry experts," the competition, and, most importantly, the ideals of open access upon which the iProvo network was built.

And you sold to Broadweave? You could not have done sufficient due dilligence on these guys. If so, you would have quickly discovered that the real "management team" is not the board members who showed up only to make this deal, but rather a bunch of young guns who in 8 years have a track record much longer than iProvo's of failures to execute. Do you realize they have no experience in retail sales and marketing? Virtually no experience with IPTV? They have a history of poor customer support, broken promises, and extreme customer dissatisfaction. I think that with a few significant changes, you had a much better chance of success.

I love my iProvo fiber, but now I'll be stuck with Broadweave, their price hikes and monopolistic tendencies, and I'm not happy about it. I guess I always could go back -- heaven forbid -- to Qwest or Comcast's inarguably inferior copper infrastructure - BLAH!

All along, the mayor has vehemently defended the iProvo model and said he wasn't going to give in to all the naysayers. What a shock to find out he was making back-room deals at the same time!

I've been a big fan of the iProvo concept from the beginning--an open network for anyone to use. In fact, I could never understand why there were only two providers until I read recently that providers were required to provide triple-play services. What's that all about? Doesn't the city believe in the free market, letting anyone use the network for whatever purpose as long as they can pay?

Now we're going to be stuck with a monopoly of the mayor's making--and it seems to have been handed to some "good old boys" with little credibility or experience. I have a hard time believing this will be any kind of improvement for iProvo customers.

Prior to moving from Northern Virginia to Provo in April 2005, I was searching the internet for internet services in Provo and located a website on the iprovo fibernetwork. I had to wait a month after arriving in Provo for iprovo to be deployed in my area. The wait was worth it.

With a few hiccups, I have been impressed with the internet and phone service provided. My major issue is not with the network, but the frequent changes in ISPs not of my doing; from homenet to iveracity to NUVONT. I finally requested what I hoped would be a stable email address and was issued an @iprovo.net email address.

Hopefully the sale contract will include protection/default clauses that will protect residential customers and truly provide the Broadweaave better than statements without increase in costs to residential custosmers.

I do regret Provo City's need to sell the network, but I hope the city government will not divest their interest in iprovo subscribers.