Unanimous: Provo Utah Council Approves Google Fiber 130
symbolset writes "In a unanimous vote the Provo Municipal Council has agreed to a plan to sell the city's troubled iProvo fiber Internet network to Google. Although this makes Provo, Utah the third city to embrace Google's ambitious gigabit fiber to the home plan the existing network will allow the residents of Provo to see faster installation than the others. Google had previously announced plans to proceed immediately on approval."
They city handed the network over for $1, but there are hidden costs, from the article: "Provo taxpayers will still have to pay off a $39 million bond that the city originally issued to build the network. With interest, taxpayers still have to pay $3.3 million in bond payments per year for the next 12 years. ... The city will have to pay about $722,000 for equipment in order to continue using the gigabit service for government operations ... The city also has to pay about $500,000 to a civil engineering firm to determine exactly where the fiber optic cables are buried ... Google will lease the network to Provo city for free for 15 years."
incompetence (Score:5, Interesting)
The city also has to pay about $500,000 to a civil engineering firm to determine exactly where the fiber optic cables are buried...
Wtf, don't they have the installation project plans in the first place? This is the kind of incompetence that really pisses me off.
Re:Google Fiber (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't get it. Aren't they too godly to watch porn in Utah?
Funny you should point that out, UT has one of the higher consumption (viewed) of porn.
Re:incompetence (Score:4, Interesting)
My old boss always said "you cannot be a prophet in your own land."
I am reminded about the time the two of us were pushing for this new thing called the "World Wide Web" or some such. Administration in the college said that it was nice, but gopher does all we'll ever need.
Plans often don't match reality (Score:5, Interesting)
Wtf, don't they have the installation project plans in the first place? This is the kind of incompetence that really pisses me off.
Project plans frequently do not accurately document where the cable was actually placed. My father worked in engineering for AT&T for several decades planning jobs like this. He always had to go check what the plans said against what was drawn on the engineering documents. What the guys in the field do often does not match what the engineer designed. Furthermore since Google is essentially buying this cable they need to audit what they are actually buying. When you are investing millions of dollars you don't take anyone's word for it, you have someone go out and check to see that the actual infrastructure is something close to what the plans say it should be.
This is exactly the opposite of incompetence. This is exactly how a rational buyer should behave when buying an expensive asset.
Re:Should have been the University of Utah (Score:5, Interesting)
Would you believe that there are parts of the world where getting interest on loans is illegal?
Most of the time, when countries try to pass such usury laws, creative workarounds are found (otherwise no one would lend money or be able to get a loan). Europe in the Middle Ages was a great example. Though interest was technically illegal, you could still borrow with interest from Jews and certain Church organizations like the famous Templars (of course, this ultimately led to very bad backlash for both groups in the forms of pogroms, burnings, and other such unpleasantries). Usually they'll just charge you some sort of "administration fee" or "tribute" or some such shit that is basically the same as interest.