This post is directed at all of my neighbors in Garden Park Condos in Orem. I want to address the serious issue of services available to us in Garden Park. As far as I understand it our choices for internet, phone, and/or TV, are limited to Comcast or QWest. Yes I understand some people have gotten Satellite, but there are problems both with the service and with the HOA as we are all aware.
(Update: The HOA problems mentioned here pertain to satellite dishes being mounted to the buildings, which technically do not belong to the owners of individual units.)
It was summer of 2006 when I took part in an HOA meeting, then not a resident, because we had received information that the UTOPIA infrastructure was at the property line and ready to be extended into Garden Park if the demand was there. The demand had to exceed 1/3 the units of Garden Park intending to sign up for at least one (1) service from any service provider.
At the time I was an MStar employee and there was a representative from XMission onsite as well. We answered questions and explained some of the benefits offered by the UTOPIA project and the services available over the network.
It was my understanding then and soon after that we had met and exceeded the required demand for the infrastructure to be laid in Garden Park so we could all benefit from the greater options for internet, phone, and TV services.
Now for those of you who are not interested in getting rid of your old fashions POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines and Comcast TV here is an incentive for you! I have seen Comcast and QWest rates drop in areas with Utopia coverage because they can't match the services available to you on the UTOPIA network.
Needless to say, over a year has come and gone and nothing has happened. While I was still at MStar I pursued this on an almost daily basis. At the time I was being told that we were waiting on Phase 2 funding for Utopia. For those of you who don't know, Phase 2 funding has come and nothing has happened. I know a large part of Phase 2 funding came from RUS (Rural Utility Service) Federal Grants, but that doesn't mean they are without other funding and other means of deploying service.
The Garden Park Complex is literally surrounded by UTOPIA Coverage!
What is UTOPIA?
UTOPIA - Utah Telecommunications Open Provider Infrastructure Agency
UTOPIA is a group of 14 Utah Cities who have formed a governmental organization in order to deploy a FTTH (Fiber (Optics) to the Home) Network. Why is this important? As technologies using Copper Lines (Cable and DSL) begin to maximize the potential of those lines begin to run into roadblocks and dead ends, but the demand for more speed, more bandwidth, more services, increases. In steps Fiber Optics. Long known to be the ultimate choice for communications, and it's now available in your home. Well depending on where you live. The limits of Fiber have not been reached and even at the current achieved potential could offer many times more than services running over Copper Lines.
Where is FTTH available?
In Utah there is UTOPIA cities, iProvo, Traverse Mountain, Daybreak (I am pretty sure), Sienna Hills in St. George, and that's about it at this time.
So you may be curious what services are available to you from a UTOPIA Service Provider.
The current providers offering services on UTOPIA are:
MStar
XMission
Veracity / NuVont
AT&T
If and when you sign up for UTOPIA service I would only consider the first two. MStar is currently the only provider currently offering triple-play (Internet, Phone, and TV) services on the UTOPIA, and iProvo, Networks. XMission is only offering internet, but as any XMission customer will tell you, their service is solid, their company is very knowledgeable and experienced. I was disappointed when I received (as an XMission customer) a flyer offering Satellite service to accompany my Internet service. Why Would I want to add a Satellite service when I already had a Fiber Optic connection capable of doing all that Satellite can do and more?
As far as Veracity / NuVont and AT&T go, they are relatively irrelevant. Veracity and NuVont are the same company. Veracity was gaining such a bad reputation for their services they branded a new name for services. However they didn't even change the symbol they used for their logo. AT&T's services are fine, from what I understand, however they aren't putting any serious efforts into UTOPIA and may not even sign up new customers.
MStar offers TV, Internet, and Phone, all over the single Fiber Line to your home. Their prices are great and they have good service. I will say they have some work to do on Customer Service and Support. They have some great employee's but still lack some organization. If you want a great story talk to my old landlord Diane. If you want updated information from MStar I suggest checking their website.
XMission only offers internet at this time. However, they are a very good provider. If you are a business customer XMission is definitely the way to go. They know what they offer, they know how to answer your questions, and complete your requests due to policies and procedures onviously clearly defined for them. This is someplace MStar is way behind.
(Update: A comment on the FreeUTOPIA Blog from Woodward with XMission mentions that XMission will shortly be a double play provider. I am assuming this means they will be rolling out a VOIP service as I doubt they intent to take on a Video Head end and all the headache's associated with that at this time.)
Keep in mind both providers have a 100GB monthly transfer cap. MStar isn't as strict on enforcing it, but I know that XMissions keep very good records of the amount of data transferred and will not hesitate to let you know you are close the limit.
Well, back to the initial reason for this post. If you are one of my great neighbors in Garden Park, or know anybody who lives in that wonderful community, please get the word out and lets see what we can make happen.
We Want UTOPIA in Garden Park!
(Note / Update: If you find disagreement with any of my information, if it's wrong, out of date, or anything, please feel free to let me know. I consider myself somewhat well informed on UTOPIA and iProvo, but since I don't actually work with them on a daily basis any longer I'm sure I am capable of making mistakes. THANKS!)
This entry was posted
on 2007-12-07
at Friday, December 07, 2007
and is filed under
cable,
ftth,
garden park,
internet,
iprovo,
phone,
tv,
utopia
. You can follow any responses to this entry through the
comments feed
.
Posts
