Xmission CEO: Sale of iProvo spells monopoly

PROVO - The city may have dumped its financially beleaguered iProvo fiber-optic network for $40.6 million, but Pete Ashdown is upset.
    Ashdown, chief executive officer of Xmission, said Broadweave Networks' purchase was not done through a public process. That, he says, sets the stage for establishing a monopoly for high-speed data service in the city.
    "This was a public asset," Ashdown said after Tuesday's announcement of the sale to Broadweave Networks. Ashdown said a request for proposals (RFP) the city issued last year sought retail service providers, not someone willing to purchase the system.
    But Mayor Lewis K. Billings said the language of the notice was broad enough to imply that the city was entertaining offers for the high-speed network - not just for additional retailers.
    "Why did we then get offers from several others wanting to purchase [it]?" Billings asked. He said the city was also under nondisclosure agreements with potential buyers, limiting what it could say in public about its intentions to sell.
    He said the city will conduct public hearings before the council approves the sale agreement.
    The RFP is titled, "Requests for Proposals for Partnership Opportunities with Telecommunication Service Providers on the iProvo Network." It states that the city seeks providers interested in offering services on the network.
    It also says, "This is an open invitation, and the city may elect as the sole judge to proceed with any proposal that bests serves its interests at that time."
    "It makes it wide open to suggestions," said city spokeswoman Helen Anderson.
    Ashdown said city officials have repeatedly attempted to keep him from being an iProvo provider, something he said may have hurt the city's ability to run the network. His past attempts to sign up as a provider were rebuffed because he did not offer a "triple play" package of Internet, television and telephone services.
    Nor is he optimistic that Broadweave will consider him as a provider on the network.
    Steve Christensen, Broadweave's chief executive officer, said the system cannot be a monopoly since there are competitors in the area, such as Qwest and Comcast, and Ashdown could just as easily offer his services through Qwest.
    Ashdown's comments were the only apparent sour notes at the announcement, where even some of iProvo's staunchest critics hailed the move.
    "This was certainly good news for the taxpayers of Provo," said M. Royce Van Tassell, of the Utah Taxpayers Association.
    dmeyers@sltrib.com
   
   
    A brief history of iProvo
   
    The Provo Municipal Council, in July 2004, votes to bond $39.5 million to build iProvo, a fiber-optic network connecting the city.
    The Reason Foundation, in late 2006, issues the first of two reports calling for Provo to get out of the telecommunications business.
    The following spring, the city issues a request for proposals from potential retail providers.
    In September of last year, the system achieves 10,000 subscribers, the touted break-even point. But the city still has to pour in $2 million a year in subsidies.
    The city, in December, hires Franklin Court Partners and CCG Consulting into review iProvo and recommend ways to make it financially viable.
    Last Month, the consultants recommend charging city departments for their use of the network.
    Provo announces on Tuesday that it is selling iProvo to Broadweave Networks, headed by Steve Christensen, former Novell general counsel. Fraser Bullock, former Salt Lake Olympic chief operating officer, is on Broadweave's board of directors.