UTOPIA Fiber is celebrating another banner year.
Created in 2009 by a coalition of Utah cities to cultivate a competitive market for fast affordable fiber Internet, the nation’s largest community-owned open access network recently announced it officially hit the 70,000 subscriber mark.
UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency) is now delivering fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) access in 21 Utah cities, partnering with 19 private-sector ISPs, while offering business-class service in 50 cities.
Over the past year – having deployed 1.9 million feet of fiber-optic cable, 1.3 million feet of underground conduit, 68,190 feet of aerial strand, and 8,660 handholes – UTOPIA’s growth in 2024 means fiber access is now available to 23,684 new homes and an additional 1,974 businesses in Utah, UTOPIA officials said.
This comes after having completed its West Haven City buildout and the nearly complete construction of Bountiful Fiber’s network, which is on track to be finished by July. Additionally, UTOPIA has also completed fiber installations in 22 homeowner associations (HOAs) and are gearing up to connect more in the coming months.
UTOPIA Fiber executive director Roger Timmerman pointed to the surging demand for affordable fiber connectivity as to what’s fueling the growth:
“Residents are the driving force behind these fiber projects because they need better Internet now, not years down the road.”
For Timmerman, the truth is in the ledger. UTOPIA added 11,256 new subscribers in 2024, which pushed its subscriber total to over 70,000 – half of whom joined the network in the past three to four years.
Gig Service Trending Up
Some of the more interesting numbers UTOPIA released, which reflects a nationwide trend, were about the speed tiers most subscribers wanted. While the FCC only recently (and belatedly) set the minimum broadband speed at 100/20 Megabits per second (Mbps), the overwhelming majority of UTOPIA’s new subscribers are getting nearly 10x that speed.
Among new subscribers in 2024, UTOPIA officials say, the symmetrical 1 Gig option was the most popular, selected by 88 percent of new subscribers. Meanwhile, the 2.5 Gig option, which UTOPIA introduced in 2024, already accounts for 10 percent of new subscribers.
Also, while UTOPIA’s 10 Gig service remains a niche offering (2 percent of its new subscriber base), nearly 75 percent of the 10 gig-ers are residential subscribers.
Enthusiastic Support for Open Access
This 70,000-subscriber milestone marks an impressive run for UTOPIA, having seen 20 percent year-over-year growth and a subscriber base that has more than doubled since 2020.
UTOPIA’s success also signals an increasing interest in the open access model, as a growing body of research indicates that open access fiber networks – which allow numerous private ISPs to compete in layers over publicly-owned infrastructure – routinely result in better service and lower prices.
That combination – built on a public-ownership model that centers community stakeholders instead of corporate shareholders – can also be seen in subscriber satisfaction rates. The network boasts a 4.6-star Google rating with over 3,000 reviews and an industry-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 61 – in stark contrast to big monopoly providers who are routinely cited as among the most hated companies in the U.S. in survey after survey.
“While many broadband networks struggle to maintain service quality at scale, our Net Promoter Score of 61 proves that our customers aren’t just satisfied – they’re enthusiastic supporters. We’ve built a successful network that prioritizes both reliability and exceptional, local customer service,” Timmerman added.
New Deputy Director Sees Fiber as ‘The Great Equalizer’
To help spearhead the growth, UTOPIA also recently announced the appointment of Nicole Cottle as Deputy Director, who, since 2023, had been serving as UTOPIA’s Director of Government Relations and General Counsel. A longtime Bountiful City resident, she brings nearly 26 years of public-sector executive experience.
Having previously served as Assistant City Manager, General Counsel, Director of Community and Economic Development, and Chief Sustainability Officer for her home city, the announcement noted how Cottle “has played a central role in shaping policy and securing funding at every level of government, participating in more than $4 billion in creative financing strategies and securing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, earmarks, and public-private partnerships to drive economic development and support local businesses.”
Cottle, who sees “fiber broadband (as) the great equalizer,” is also keenly aware of the anti-competitive spirit of the big monopoly providers targeting publicly-owned networks both in her hometown and elsewhere, as well as the potential threats posed by legislation aimed at limiting community-driven broadband.
Cottle tells ILSR that she doesn’t see new state legislation (SB 165) – signed into law by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to establish “requirements and limitations in relation to a municipality providing a broadband service” – as a significant barrier.
Set to take effect on May 7, the new law requires would-be municipal broadband providers to conduct feasibility studies, get voter approval for revenue bonds that fund municipal broadband infrastructure, and mandates new annual public reporting.
When ILSR recently spoke with Cottle about the new bill she said the legislation does not rise to the same level as the preemption laws 16 states that either ban or severely restrict municipal broadband.
“The bill is really all about transparency and as an open access network that’s something we think is important,” Cottle said. “It does add an extra layer of requirement but most of the requirements are things UTOPIA was already doing.”
Looking to the future, Cottle sees Utah as a state that is friendly to municipal broadband in general and open access networks in particular.
“Utah has been really progressive as it relates to broadband and fiber. We are well ahead of the curve so we are in great shape as a state and the group of cities that make up UTOPIA.”
Watch the short documentary "Rocketeers: The UTOPIA Fiber Story" below:
Header image of UTOPIA Fiber spool courtesy of UTOPIA Fiber Facebook page
Inline UTOPIA Fiber by the numbers graphic courtesy of ILSR GIS and Data Visualization Specialist Christine Parker
Inline headshot of UTOPIA Deputy Director Nicole Cottle courtesy of UTOPIA Fiber website
Inline image of UTOPIA Fiber installer courtesy of UTOPIA Fiber website
