The City of West Haven Signs Deal with UTOPIA Fiber
City of West Haven Gets on UTOPIA Fiber’s “Broadband Express Train” to Connect Residents and Business to the World
West Haven City is First in Weber County to See Expansion of Nation’s Preeminent All-Fiber Network
West Haven, Utah (Novemer 14, 2022) – Coming on the heels of a unanimously approved City Council resolution, Roger Timmerman, Executive Director, UTOPIA Fiber, has announced that UTOPIA Fiber has signed an agreement to build a $17.6 million city-wide high-speed broadband network in West Haven City, Utah. Construction is slated to begin this fall and will mark the first time that UTOPIA Fiber has expanded into Weber County. West Haven will join 19 other cities across Utah who chose UTOPIA Fiber to deliver ultra-high-speed broadband and Smart City services to residents and businesses via an all-fiber infrastructure–with speeds that rank among the fastest in the nation.
“Time and time again, we hear from citizens across Utah and other states that Internet is now an essential part of life, and it’s why municipal leaders are getting on the ‘broadband express train’ to connect their constituents to the rest of the world,” said Timmerman. “I applaud West Haven City’s leaders for granting us approval to move forward in providing fast and reliable broadband service to every home and business in the city. As we have seen elsewhere throughout the pandemic, having this service is essential in how we live and function, which has only increased its demand and need.”
UTOPIA Fiber is America’s largest Open Access fiber network, and while it builds and owns the infrastructure, the company allows multiple private-sector internet service providers (ISPs) to compete, making it easier for them to do business while providing increased high-speed broadband access for residents. The Open Access model is completely net-neutral and promotes free-market competition, leading to a higher level of service and lower cost.
When West Haven’s City Council approved the measure in July, Councilmember Nina Morse shared with the Standard Examiner: “The pandemic changed how we do business and how we teach our kids, making accessibility to high-speed internet even more important. We have areas of the city where folks can’t access internet at all. This changes that. Now every resident will be able to connect to not just internet, but high-speed internet. Definitely a game changer here.”
The City of West Haven—like every UTOPIA Fiber project since 2009—is on track to be funded and grown solely through subscriber revenue.
Including West Haven, UTOPIA Fiber provides fiber-to-the-home services in 20 cities and business services in over 50, connecting communities to residential speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps), and 100 Gbps for business, both among the fastest speeds currently offered in the United States. UTOPIA Fiber is a publicly-owned Interlocal Agency. Participating cities also benefit from various Smart City applications that are enabled by the UTOPIA Fiber network including an early wildfire detection system, fast public WiFi, air quality monitoring services, and more.
West Haven residents and businesses are invited to visit UTOPIAfiber.com for service maps, build-out timelines, and information on how to sign up for UTOPIA Fiber services.