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UTOPIA Fiber created a model for rural broadband

Murray— Residents in the rural mountain community of Morgan City, Utah can finally celebrate: UTOPIA Fiber announced today it has completed its Fiber-to-the-Home project in the city, a boon to Utahns struggling with home internet connectivity because of COVID-19. The city’s nearly 4,500 residents now have access to the fastest internet speeds in the nation – a windfall, coming at a time when most Morgan City residents have to work and learn from home. 

The five-month, $2.5 million construction project was just completed with the company financing, designing, and constructing the system in a very short period. And because of intense subscriber demand, UTOPIA Fiber has covered all bond payments and operating expenses in a record eight weeks’ time. About a third of Morgan City’s households signed up for the service during that period, making it one of the fastest markets to reach the break-even point in the company’s 16-year history. 

“In addition to bringing the fastest Internet speeds in the country to its residents and businesses, fiber enables the city to better support its own critical infrastructure, including its own electrical utility, public safety, and various smart city applications,” said Roger Timmerman, Executive Director, UTOPIA Fiber. “Notably, Morgan City is now one of the smallest, most rural communities in the United States to have full fiber connectivity.”

Morgan City residents can access fiber internet services starting at $65/month for 250/250 Mbps and with options up to 10 Gbps (up to 100 Gbps for business) from eleven local providers—the fastest internet speeds in the nation.

“We’re all excited about our new fiber connectivity,” said Ray Little, Morgan City’s mayor. “As Morgan City continues to grow, high-speed Internet is increasingly important for our residents and businesses.” His wife loves the new fiber service from UTOPIA Fiber, crediting it for enabling her to work remotely while observing COVID-19 social distancing protocols. 

UTOPIA Fiber is an inter-local agency that provides Fiber-to-the-Home services in 14 Utah cities and commercial services in over 50. UTOPIA Fiber is an Open Access network, meaning that UTOPIA Fiber builds the infrastructure and allows private sector internet service providers (ISPs) to offer internet services through UTOPIA Fiber’s lines. 

Interested Morgan City residents and businesses can visit UTOPIAfiber.com for information on how to sign up for fiber services. 

About UTOPIA Fiber

Created by a group of Utah cities, the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) is a community-owned fiber optic network that uses the Open Access model to promote competition by giving customers the freedom to choose which telecommunication services they want. With fiber availability to over 100,000 businesses and residences in over 50 communities, UTOPIA Fiber is the largest and most sucessful Open Access network in the United States, and enjoys the industry’s highest customer satisfaction scores. Since 2009, all projects have been funded completely by subscriber revenue.