Utopia representative updates Perry council on network growth, bonds and local take rates

Jason Roberts, a Utopia representative, gave the Perry City Council an update Thursday on Utopia Fiber’s buildout, subscriber growth and long-term financing arrangements.

Roberts said the Utopia network now serves roughly 74,000 subscribers systemwide and that Perry’s residential availability is about 1,800 addresses. "If you look at February 25, we passed a thousand subscribers here in Perry," Roberts told the council. He noted the availability figure includes some vacant lots and business addresses.

The presentation explained that the Utopia system originated with a series of municipal bonds and later formed a separate funding arm, UIA (Utopia Infrastructure Authority), to support further buildout. Roberts said UIA structures differ by partner city: some cities issued their own bonds and bear construction risk; others were added under UIA. He described long-term service contracts that range from 10 to 30 years and provide monthly revenue to Utopia based on the number of customers in each service area.

Roberts discussed the legacy financing: "The bonds in green there are being paid by system revenues. The bond in yellow is the original bond that was originally a hundred and 65,000,000" (the presenter gave alternate figures elsewhere in the talk). He also said that, of one restructured original bond payment, "73% being paid by the cities and 27% being paid by Utopia," and that cities technically make the monthly payment and later receive a partial distribution back from Utopia.

Council members asked about how many households in Perry could ultimately be served and whether any parts of the city remain unreachable. Roberts said he was not aware of any Perry neighborhoods that are inherently unavailable but acknowledged there can be isolated outliers (for example across an interstate). He encouraged city planning staff to coordinate to run conduit in new trenches, which Roberts said reduces construction costs.

Council members also asked about Utopia service tiers and local technical issues. Roberts said the network supports speeds up to 10 Gbps to the home where customer equipment can accept it and that new 2.5 Gbps retail tiers have been popular in newer subdivisions. When a council member described a personal speed issue after upgrading service, Roberts and others noted such problems can be caused by in-home equipment (older routers) or by the service provider; Roberts recommended contacting the provider and checking in-home equipment.

Why it matters: Perry’s relationship with Utopia affects local broadband access, recurring revenue distributions and how the city plans for future development. The presentation provided specific local figures the council can use when coordinating new subdivisions and public infrastructure.

What’s next: Roberts said UIA and Utopia expect further partner additions (including a rural counties consortium in California under discussion) and that Utopia will continue annual or periodic bonds to fund curb-to-home connections and to increase take rates.