News : Vinton Broadband Communications Utility: still making progress

By iVinton Committee Broadband internet service has become essential for business, education, entertainment, and daily activities. The goal for Vinton is to have a broadband communications utility that pays for itself by offering customers the option of faster, more reliable and competitively priced access to broadband internet, telephone, and cable TV services. Getting lost in a forest of details and acronyms is easy when explaining the work being done to create Vinton's communications utility. To cut through some of the confusion we created an infographic comparing the communications project with building a home. The infographic shows the accomplishments, what we're working on now, and the steps we could take in the future. With assistance from the City of Vinton and Vinton Municipal Electric Utility, we have completed steps 1 through 3. Now we have a rough estimate of the cost, and we are working to establish partnerships with other communications providers. Why have partners for the project? Phone and cable TV subscribers are declining in number, and many households have replaced those traditional services with video and voice accessed through the internet. The equipment needed to offer cable and phone is expensive, but by partnering with other communications companies, we can avoid installing some of the expensive equipment and still provide phone and cable services to customers who want them. Many potential partners have received a request for information about their interest in working with the Vinton communications utility. Members of the Vinton group working on the utility will soon meet at Waverly Utilities with representatives from Charles City and New Hampton. Waverly has recently begun offering internet, phone and cable services to citizens, while Charles City and New Hampton are, like Vinton, still moving toward the creation of their utility. The goal of the meeting is to explore ways the communities can cooperate to provide communications to citizens while keeping investment and operating expenses as low as possible. The cost estimate for the project will remain little more than a rough estimate until partners are selected. We are also working with the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Decisionmaking to survey Vinton citizens to learn what communications services we are buying and how much those services cost. The UNI group has provided similar survey services to other communications utilities and regularly assists many for-profit companies. The results of the survey will be one of the final pieces of information needed before exploring sources and costs of a construction loan. So how long will it take from right now? The answer is: we're not sure. Throughout this long process, we've focused on getting things right, not getting them done quickly. A successful broadband project that pays for itself while offering citizens better choices will make Vinton more attractive to potential residents and businesses. It will improve the quality of life for those who live here, and improve the ability of our businesses to compete now, and in the future.