Government-owned broadband networks have a long history of failure, causing tax increases and leaving cities and their residents in debt. 90% of the time, these networks are financial failures. In Provo, Utah, residents are still paying off $40 million in debt after their city-run network failed and was sold off for one dollar to a private company.
No surprise that government tries to hide its failures—now they’re calling government-owned broadband “UTOPIA.” The 20-year old project is $300 million in debt and still hasn’t achieved its goals. Worse, UTOPIA is trying to spread the debt by convincing more cities to join the scheme. And cities are putting up sales tax revenue as collateral for these risky schemes, meaning budgets for schools, firefighters and other core government functions are at risk.
If they were honest, they’d call it DYSTOPIA! They say the project is “almost complete.” How about they stop wasting our money?!
Sign our petition against government-owned broadband in Utah.