Provo Officials Refute Negative Report of iProvo

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) A report predicting the demise of Provo City's broadband service is short-sighted, according to Kevin Garlick, the city's acting telecom manager. The report from Libertarian think tank The Reason Foundation claims it will take a miracle for Provo taxpayers to start getting their money's worth out of iProvo.

"We don't see this as needing a miracle in anyway to be profitable," says Garlick. "We're staying our course, we're following our business plan and we'll hopefully bring on the additional customers needed to meet our financial viability."

In two years, Garlick says iProvo has acquired just over eight-thousand subscribers. It now estimates it will need around 15-thousand to break even. That's more than the 10-thousand city officials originally forecast - and one reason for the report's dismal outlook. The report further claims internet access is not like water, sewer and other utilities. Success requires competitive advantage and quick response that government agencies are typically unable to offer. But Garlick says just having iProvo in the marketplace forces competitors to step up:

"We're bringing competitive choice to the community," says Garlick. "We have the ability to connect every home or business in Provo with a 100 mgb pipe - that's not available at Comcast or Qwest."

Garlick says iProvo was never intended to be a cash cow for the city, but he says officials are confident it will be a good deal for taxpayers given enough time.

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