Utah to Become Fiber Optic Utopia
Published November 18, 2003
Salt Lake City and other Utah cities are looking to build the largest ultrahigh-speed digital network in the country. Excellent.
- Construction on the project is scheduled to start next spring - if the cities can raise the money to pull it off. The network would be capable of delivering data over the Internet to homes and businesses at speeds 100 times faster than current commercial residential offerings. It would also offer digital television and telephone services through the Internet.
With a $470 million price tag, the project is considered one of the most ambitious efforts in the world to deploy fiber optic cables, which carry data in bursts of light over glass fibers. Though it has not received much attention outside the area, the project has raised questions here about the role of government, particularly from telecommunications companies, which are starting to complain about the prospect of competing against a publicly sponsored digital network.
The cities involved argue that reliable access to high-speed data is so important to their goals of improving education and advancing economic growth that the project should be seen as no more controversial than the traditional public role in building roads, bridges, sewers and schools - as well as electric power systems, which are often municipally owned in the Western United States.
Data infrastructure "is not a nicety,'' said Paul T. Morris, executive director for the project, which he has named Utopia, a stylized acronym for the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency. "It's an essential economic growth issue," he added. "The best network in the U.S. will be in Utah - not in New York, not in Chicago, not in Los Angeles."
Its advocates say that Utopia will give participating cities a leg up in attracting sophisticated companies and highly educated, technology-minded individuals. The network is expected to be available to 723,000 residents in 248,000 households and 34,500 businesses. Prices would vary considerably depending on the service, though basic high-speed Internet access is expected to cost about $28 a month.
...."This is a very powerful test case," said Sharon Gillett, a research associate at M.I.T.'s center for technology, policy and industrial development. "If Utopia succeeds, it will be the first really large-scale deployment of fiber to the home in the United States."
- Utah to Become Fiber Optic Utopia
- Published: November 18, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Mormon spam? Give me a break. Can we not start the discussion on a better note than this?
I think that this would be great. It's about time that fiber optics is utilized residentially. I really hope that they get the funding.
My cable from comcast sucks, only 256kbps upload, and 2800kbps down. I can't wait for a 100,000 up/ 100,000 down.
You'll get speed's on kazaa and other peer to peer networks, Like nothing before, Utah will bring the average bandwidth up to say 400KBps for a download.
yeah I don't download illegal copy right things, or upload illegal things. Why would a 17 year old with $10 a week download anything illegal. OK they do but I think if I ever did. I would download stuff I liked, and if I really liked it their isn't anything like owning the real CD. I mean if you have a collection of blanks it sucks. But most kids don't make money. So I think if kids do download things. Then when they get money they will buy. Like when I get a job i'd buy a couple $100 in CD's. But I also think say itunes for example i'd pay $.99 for each song. But I have a problem, My parents will not spend money over the net, they think it's to dangerous. So give the kids a address so they can send money. Because I would send money in the mail and give my email address. Then in my email I'd get a password and say if I spend $10 I can download 10 songs on that password. But what I really think is it should be $.10 a song then everyone that is a member on peer to peer which is 60 million U.S. would buy em by the 100, So here it would be $10 from 60 Million = $.6 Billion. now isn't that more then itunes well hell yea it is. So with this fiber I am going to share if I have legal stuff. (not illegal) So I say on kazaa put some huge server's up and let people share them your files, and charge $.10 a song people will buy like crazy. Or you can try to sue 60 million people I don't think so. I say too the record companies start now and you will make up for the loss. I can promise you that people will buy 100's of song's, have you ever went on kazaa people share like an average of 2.5 GB of file's so there has to be at least 200 songs each. I know I'd pay $20 for 200 songs easy and do it legally. But it is up to you and + you can't sue kazaa because everyone is a server their is no center system server. So basically if you don't do something your F ed but don't take my word for it? If you like what I say my email is mike_johnson@wapda.com and also I don't serve on kazaa or download anythin but legal stuff. If I did share it would be having a server which is not allowed by my internet provider, Also I use a proxy from china so you can't trace me.
I don't care if you trace me. I don't do anything illegal and would never on a computer.
I believe if this were to happen, and free knowledge and info was being delivered at such a high pace to all the closed minded idiots in Utah (mormons) this would obliterate the Mormon religion
First of all, Mormons are not idiots or closed minded, They're basically just like any other form of christianity? do you think every muslim is a terrorist? you are truly stupid to think that just because Utah has faster internet that the religion will be affected in anyway, especially thinking that the religion will be "obliterated" because of knowledge coming in at a faster rate.First off knowledge is free here, its not like they keep a curtain around the Utah border and only allow certain knowledge and schools of thought to be allowed into Utah, yes its more conservative here and there are some stupid laws due to the fact that yes the Mormon religion does have a strong political influence, but Utah isn't a bad place and the rest of the world has nothing to fear due to us getting some faster internet, if anything hopefully it'll help knowledge get spread and idiots wont make stupid assumptions that have no basis
Wow - a blog about (hopefully) something extraordinary in the technology arena boiling down to something the equivalent of no 'outside' knowledge can get into Brooklyn because of the Jewish faith, or Rome will be left behind the times because of all the Catholics, and, god forbid, information be given to countries who are Buddhist / Muslim / Hindu. Come on people, it's a pretty small planet - if someone from Utah has a vision about utilizing a phenomenal technology, lets get behind it and make it work for all of us. Maybe it's a novel idea of people working together, but really, what have we got to lose? And, he's not the only one: there are some damn good ideas coming up and out that will improve life for every single person - again, maybe it's too radical, but sign us up *now* - we support the creative, the daring, the thoughtful, the insightful. We're glad Utopia is starting here, and no, were not Mormon. Fiber optics in particular have extraordinary potential in almost every area of life - let's get it running and 'out there' to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible ...life's to short!
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Great, soon we'll be getting mormon spam.