Work begins on fiber-optic internet network to every address in Santa Clara

ST. GEORGE — Work on a fiber-optic internet network that is planned to connect to every address in Santa Clara has begun.

UTOPIA Fiber crews lay out conduit fiber cables in a neighborhood, location unspecified, circa 2021 | Photo by Lynda Shenkman/UTOPIA Fiber, St. George News

The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, also known as UTOPIA, said it has started engineering work on the $6.7 million high-speed internet network that will make Santa Clara the first Southern Utah city to have every home and business hooked up to a single fiber-optic network.

The Santa Clara City Council approved the UTOPIA network on Nov. 10, 2021, with a bond by the Utah Infrastructure Agency paying the bill. The city is providing backup funding for any shortfalls, though the infrastructure agency has said it expects subscription fees of users to ultimately pay off the bond. 

On paper, the end result will be that every household in Santa Clara will have access to high-speed internet with speeds of a minimum of 250 megabits per second.

The city and UTOPIA say the model for the Santa Clara network is like that of an airport, with the public entities funding and building the information “runways” that will ultimately be used by a choice of five or more companies providing internet service.

In an undated photo from the spring of 2021, UTOPIA Fiber crews lay out conduit fiber cables in an neighborhood | Photo by Lynda Shenkman/UTOPIA Fiber, St. George News

After the initial engineering work, UTOPIA spokesperson Bob Knight told St. George News the first physical work on the underground fiber-optic lines should begin in February. But Knight said don’t expect to be seeing too much digging through Santa Clara.

“What we do is directional boring … . Drilling in the soft space between the roads,” Knight said. “We’re looking not to rip anything up.”

Santa Clara is the 18th city in Utah to build a public open-access internet network. 

Knight said the goal is to have the entire system completed by mid-2023. However, Santa Clara residents will incrementally start seeing the UTOPIA network available to them as soon as later this year. 

“As we build out neighborhoods, we light them up one by one,” Knight said. 

A timeline of neighborhoods will soon be made available at UTOPIA’s website, which is also where residents can choose an internet service provider – though there will be no obligation for people to use the UTOPIA network or switch from an existing internet provider.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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