I live a little north of Bountiful. I was a big advocate of municipal fiber and pushed my city to build a network. In hindsight, I'm glad the city didn't do it.
The neighboring city (Kaysville) voted down a municipal fiber network in 2019 (the vote was super close). The fiber contractor (Connext) Kaysville planned to use to build the network decided to build it themselves (they were a small WISP in the area).
Covid happened and suddenly there was a lot of money for infrastructure like fiber networks. The fiber contractor expanded and it's now installing fiber throughout many cities in northern Utah including mine (the fiber is in the box in front of my house but hasn't been run inside yet).
I'm the meantime, T-mobile and Verizon began offering home ISP plans for low rates.
All of this means that most people in my area have a choice between five ISPs--Comcast, CenturyLink, T-mobile, Verizon, and Connext. Our city has also granted a franchise agreement to another company (Allwest) to build a second fiber network. I'm doubtful it will happen, but who knows.
If my city built a fiber network, I don't think its prices would have been low enough to get the required take rate for it to be self sustaining, especially with the entry Tmobile and Verizon as ISPs. The fiber contractor, on the other hand, is able to offer low prices because it is building the network at cost and making profits off the subscriptions. The end result is great for our community. Lots of competition and low prices.
The neighboring city (Kaysville) voted down a municipal fiber network in 2019 (the vote was super close). The fiber contractor (Connext) Kaysville planned to use to build the network decided to build it themselves (they were a small WISP in the area).
Covid happened and suddenly there was a lot of money for infrastructure like fiber networks. The fiber contractor expanded and it's now installing fiber throughout many cities in northern Utah including mine (the fiber is in the box in front of my house but hasn't been run inside yet).
I'm the meantime, T-mobile and Verizon began offering home ISP plans for low rates.
All of this means that most people in my area have a choice between five ISPs--Comcast, CenturyLink, T-mobile, Verizon, and Connext. Our city has also granted a franchise agreement to another company (Allwest) to build a second fiber network. I'm doubtful it will happen, but who knows.
If my city built a fiber network, I don't think its prices would have been low enough to get the required take rate for it to be self sustaining, especially with the entry Tmobile and Verizon as ISPs. The fiber contractor, on the other hand, is able to offer low prices because it is building the network at cost and making profits off the subscriptions. The end result is great for our community. Lots of competition and low prices.