Recent articles in both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Daily Herald note that things aren't going well for Utopia, the nation's largest municipal fiber network. The network currently links 11 Utah cites with FTTH connectivity, and offers wholesale access to ISPs like AT&T, XMission and MSTAR -- who each offer speeds up to 50Mbps for as low as $40 a month (albeit with caps). But a series of missteps, a vague business model and increased competition from local incumbents have resulted in some particularly ugly numbers:

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UTOPIA had projected it would bring fiber connections to as many as 70,000 households and businesses in its six member cities, and achieve a subscription rate of around 40 percent by 2008. To date, it has passed fiber connections to about 42,000 households and businesses, with only about 7,200 paying customers. On top of weak customer response, the network's construction costs are above what it had projected.

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UTOPIA is blaming an unexpected 18-month delay in securing a $67 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Services. Local ISP Mstar meanwhile complains that Utopia too strictly controls the types of tiers they can offer consumers, and they can't afford to eat the losses associated with competing with Comcast promotions. Last week, four Utopia member communities decided to refinance, while one voted against the refinancing.