VIB awaits approval for dibs on Provo muni fiber

As early as next week, Video Internet Broadcasting expects to be named the first service provider to offer triple-play services (voice, video and high-speed data) over Provo, Utah’s planned 33,000-home municipal fiber network.

As the first retail service provider for the iProvo fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, VIB would have exclusive use of the network for an undisclosed period of time, after which competitors such as Qwest Communications and Comcast, the city’s dominant cable television provider, would be granted access to the network.

VIB announced on July 1 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Provo Cable, a municipally owned cable TV provider with more than 2400 subscribers. VIB would not disclose details of the acquisition.

Last night the final draft of VIB’s proposed service provider contract with the city of Provo was completed. It now requires the signature of the mayor of Provo and the ratification of the city council. It is also being reviewed by Jim Baller, the city’s attorney in this matter.

"We don’t know if there are going to be any further changes [to the contract]," said VIB president Mike Devine.

Devine expects the contract to be ratified at the next city council meeting on Tuesday, July 13. "If that happens, we’re officially designated as the provider," he said.

Construction on the 33,000-home FTTP network is scheduled to begin this month, but about 575 households (some in multidwelling units) already receive service through the iProvo network as part of a trial. The city will deploy Ethernet-based FTTP gear from WorldWide Packets, bringing service to neighborhoods about 1000 households at a time. "They light it up, and we go in and market to [residents]," Devine said. "We just follow the construction crews around town."

VIB’s business model, as well as Provo’s, require providers such as VIB to achieve at least 32% to 35% market share to be successful. VIB will offer 15 to 18 different offerings—different video packages and combinations of bundled services and Internet access speeds from 3 Mb/s to 100 Mb/s per customer. Devine would not comment on prices other than to say that VIB’s prices will meet or undercut that of competitors.

VIB is also currently providing video and high-speed data services to about 1500 residents of Grant County, Wash., whose 11,000-home utility-built FTTP network, which is still growing, is one of the largest FTTP deployments in the country. VIB plans to add voice-over-IP service to its Grant County offerings soon, but not until it is offered first in Provo, where VIB will have a contractual requirement to provide voice service.

Devine also hopes to compete against AT&T on Utah’s planned inter-city UTOPIA network when AT&T’s exclusive use of that network expires.