Utah County residents are not the only ones feeling the growth with their internet access. The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency has officially expanded to Idaho and Montana as well as in Utah.

In a year plagued by supply chain shortages, funding uncertainties and labor woes, UTOPIA Fiber continued its growth for the 12th consecutive year.

UTOPIA Fiber, America’s largest Open Access fiber network, released its 2021 numbers Monday that showed more cities, more service providers and more customers making the switch to the community-owned network. According to Roger Timmerman, UTOPIA Fiber’s Executive Director, the company laid 2.4 million feet of fiber last year, close to 40 miles per month.

“Fiber is in great demand by people looking to stream, game, work remotely, and to power Smart homes and devices. We’re rising to the occasion. In 2021, we added three new cities, made fiber available to 26,000 new homes, and laid 455 miles of fiber optic cable. That’s about the distance from Salt Lake City to the International Space Station and back,” Timmerman said.

UTOPIA Fiber achieved a great deal of success in the financial markets in 2021, too, taking out close to $90 million worth of bonds. In the last 12 years, UTOPIA has now designed, built and financed nearly $400 million worth of fiber projects — almost a quarter of that in the last year alone, according to Timmerman.

Each day, crews worked quickly to connect homes, businesses and institutions to the network. In Utah, construction was completed in Payson and Midvale. Orem is to be fully fiber connected later this year.

Syracuse and Pleasant Grove joined the UTOPIA Fiber network — adding 7,500 new subscribers. Notably, 505 businesses and 139 schools and anchor institutions were connected.

UTOPIA also provided more choice for consumers and businesses as it increased its partnership with private-sector internet service providers adding ConnectFast, The Telecom Company and Miles Broadband. There are now 16 connected service providers.

“It’s all about speed. The community wants faster speeds and they certainly want us here yesterday. We’re working hard to deliver,” said Timmerman.

Here’s how UTOPIA Fiber’s 2021 numbers add up:

• 1.33 million feet of underground conduit installed
• 2.4 million feet of fiber cable placed
• 24 new footprints released
• 25,994 new homes able to connect
• 7,479 new residential subscribers
• 139 new anchor institutions and schools
• 505 new business connections
• 4.5-star overall Google rating
• 2 new fully-connected cities (Payson and Midvale)
• 3 new cities joined the network (Bozeman, Pleasant Grove, and Syracuse)
• 13 new employees

Timmerman stated that, “UTOPIA Fiber’s network is designed and built for scalable growth, meaning that as technology advances and community needs change, UTOPIA Fiber can quickly adapt. Cities with UTOPIA Fiber are not only reaping the economic and social rewards today, they’re well positioned for the future.”

The agency has been in operation for more than a decade and provides Fiber-to-the-Home services in 19 Utah cities, and commercial services in over 50. UTOPIA Fiber is an Open Access network, meaning that it builds the infrastructure and allows private sector ISPs usage to offer services.

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