UTOPIA Fiber Announces Completion of Fiber Project in West Point, Utah, in 15 Months

December 17, 2020 – UTOPIA Fiber announced Tuesday that it had fully built its fiber-to-the-home broadband network in the City of West Point, Utah.

The $7.2 million project, announced after a unanimous city council vote, gives every residence and business in West Point access to the fastest internet speeds in America. Remarkably, the buildout was completed in a mere 15 months. West Point is one of 15 cities in Utah that have UTOPIA Fiber’s residential fiber service, and 50 with its business service.

“Sign-ups have been astonishingly fast, which means the project is on track for covering its bond payments with subscriber revenue in the next few months,” said Kimberly McKinley, UTOPIA Fiber’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Strong demand from West Point residents who are working and learning remotely has fueled the high take rates which are months ahead of projections,” she added.

Located just north of Salt Lake City, West Point has a population nearing 11,000 and is adjacent to Clearfield City, which in August announced its own $13.8 million fiber-to-the-home, open access project with UTOPIA Fiber.

Unlike typical internet companies that cherrypick more-upscale neighborhoods, UTOPIA Fiber builds out the entire community with fiber infrastructure, so every address has the option to use the service. West Point residents can now access UTOPIA Fiber’s internet services starting at $65/month for 250/250 Megabits per second (Mbps) and will have the option to choose speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second (up to 100 Gbps for business) from 13 local providers—the fastest internet speeds in the nation.

The pandemic has fueled significant interest in UTOPIA Fiber’s publicly-owned fiber service. The network now has a pipeline of 20 cities expressing interest in partnering with UTOPIA, and the agency is laying over 45 miles of fiber cable each month, across its portfolio, to meet surging demand.

“City leaders throughout the state are hearing from their constituents who are demanding better connectivity,” noted Roger Timmerman, Executive Director, UTOPIA Fiber. High-speed broadband is not just for entertainment purposes like gaming and streaming. It has become a critical need for working, learning, communicating, and accessing other critical online services like telehealth.“

With over $220 million of successful fiber projects, UTOPIA Fiber is the nation’s largest and most-successful open access network. As an open access network, UTOPIA Fiber builds and finances the infrastructure and allows multiple private-sector internet service providers (ISPs) to compete on its network, offering internet, video, and voice services.

About UTOPIA Fiber

The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) is a community-owned fiber optic network utilizing light to transfer information, making it the fastest communication and data transfer technology in use today. Created by a group of Utah cities, UTOPIA Fiber supports open-access and promotes competition in all telecommunication services. For more information, contact Kim McKinley, Chief Marketing Officer, UTOPIA Fiber.