The Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency, or UTOPIA, has had a helpful push from the COVID-19 pandemic and is keeping crews busy installing fiber optics conduit and cable.<\/p>\n
We are a fiber state, said Kimberly McKinley, chief marketing officer. Most cities are connected.<\/p>\n
UTOPIA provides high-speed fiber-optic networks to partner cities along the Wasatch Front. Orem is one of those cities, and a legacy partner.<\/p>\n
McKinley added that even rural places in Utah, like Morgan, which is completely built out with UTOPIA fiber optics, has some of the best connectivity in the country.<\/p>\n
Connectivity has been going on much longer than the pandemic, but the desire for open infrastructure fiber optics is at a high demand as people continue to work and do school from home.<\/p>\n
As we come out of the pandemic you wont see people automatically changing, McKinley said. The demand for fiber optics will be more.<\/p>\n
McKinley said UTOPIA currently has a list of 20 Utah cities that are contemplating the feasibility of putting fiber optics in the ground.<\/p>\n
One of the great things, thanks in part to COVID-19, is the fact that UTOPIA\/UIA has the revenue stream to get the final funding to complete the original cities buildout without having to go back to the cities for more money, according to McKinley.<\/p>\n
For many years naysayers have said comparing fiber optics to, say, electricity is not sound. Now, communities see fiber as a utility and as a necessity, McKinley said.<\/p>\n
The cities who started this so long ago are considered visionary now, McKinley said.<\/p>\n
With that growing desire, installation crews are keeping busy.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the last year we have been working day and night, said Bob Knight, UTOPIA spokesman.<\/p>\n
Knight said that in 2020 crews have laid 1.7 million feet of conduit and 1.4 million feet of cable.<\/p>\n
There is no other network in the U.S. that has laid this much fiber, Knight said. UTOPIA is the industry leader across the country.<\/p>\n
As of the end of the year, UTOPIA had 35,000 customers in its network.<\/p>\n
While many cities dont have fiber to their homes, McKinley said UTOPIA has business class services to more than 50 cities.<\/p>\n
2020 was an anomaly, McKinley said. Our biggest year could be 2021. This is new normal and it is giving us tremendous growth.<\/p>\n
The pandemic exacerbated trends and changed growth trajectories, according to McKinley. But that is not a bad thing for UTOPIA. McKinley says more providers are calling them.<\/p>\n
UTOPIA, a joint agreement originally with 16 cities, began in 2004. It went south for a few years but rebounded in 2015 under new leadership. UTOPIA has been moving in a positive direction ever since.<\/p>\n
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UTOPIA crews working day and night to accommodate requests - Daily Herald<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency, or UTOPIA, has had a helpful push from the COVID-19 pandemic and is keeping crews busy installing fiber optics conduit and cable. We are a fiber state, said Kimberly McKinley, chief marketing officer. Continue reading