Residents began connecting to Lehi’s fiber network

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LEHI — Residents are starting to connect to Lehi’s new citywide fiber network that aims to connect the city with affordable, high-quality Internet service.

On Monday, Lehi’s fiber network became operational when the first residence in Lehi was connected.

“It’s definitely a momentous day. The only regret I have is that we didn’t contact every home in Lehigh today, but we need to have every home in Lehigh registered in two years,” said Mayor Mark Johnson.

Over the past two years, the city has been creating and building a fiber optic broadband network to provide affordable high-speed Internet services to the community. There are 13 homes connected to the network and around 7,200 addresses are already registered once construction is complete.

“The city is grateful to provide residents and businesses with such a high-quality network,” said Lehigh Fiber Manager Shaye Ruitenbeck.

After conducting a fiber feasibility study, the Lehigh City Council went through a competitive process to select a company to design, build, build and operate the network. STRATA Networks was selected in December 2021, and a project that had been in the works for years was officially underway.

The fiber network will be financed by a bond approved by the City Council in 2020. STRATA Networks is a large and independent telecommunications cooperative that allows municipalities to maintain ownership of the network and benefit from subscriber revenue and serve as a trusted partner. Leahy, the network operator, according to a statement released when city officials announced the partnership.

The city’s contract with STRATA Networks is worth about $68.1 million to reach 21,800 locations, including residential and commercial, based on a 45% take rate — a take rate as a percentage of subscribers in the network, Ruitenbeek said.

“Lehi is one of Utah’s largest cities, and it only makes sense to have a strong fiber network home to Silicon Slopes,” said Bruce Todd, CEO of STRATA Networks. “Communities like Lehi are champions in positioning the state for growth and opportunity, and access to citywide fiber internet will allow Lehi and Utah to thrive like never before. We’re excited to be a part of it and look forward to seeing the many ways it can benefit the people who live here.”

STRATA Networks has organized a “fiber-cutting” ceremony to commemorate the start of construction on the network on September 6.

Strata Networks Chief Operating Officer Dave Ryan said, “Today we are moving to the next level as the city has decided to build a 100% fiber network.”

“This new fiber infrastructure will do more than just provide high-speed premium Internet access to homes and businesses. It will also support many other initiatives such as water conservation, traffic management, sensitive applications over the Internet, improvements to health and life-saving systems, improved education, economic development, and more.” “This is the kind of infrastructure that the city needs and is already emerging as the technology hub of the state,” Ryan added.

Although the fiber network is owned by Lehigh, it follows an open access model where Internet service providers can use the network to sell service to consumers. Residents who choose to connect to the fiber network can choose from one of five internet service providers – XMission, SumoFiber, Intellipop, CentraCom or Beehive Broadband – to find the option that best suits their situation.

Eligible households can apply for an affordable connection program to receive a $30 discount on their internet bill.

“It didn’t take long until 2020 for us to do our jobs and realize how important faster speeds are to our education system. Every child deserves a quality education. They deserve that,” Johnson said at the Fiber Cut.

The “backbone” of the network will be the main line that forms a ring around the city, which “heals itself if it is cut in one place, creating an often uninterrupted network,” Ruitenbeek said.

Through overhead lines and micro-trench, the mainline fiber cables are made to provide homes with multi-gigabit internet speed, high bandwidth capacity and reliable internet connection.

The backbone network is connected by four shelters that contain electronics around the city. From the shelters, the fiber is distributed to smaller geographic areas known as “cabinets,” consisting of about 400 to 500 homes.

Backbone construction has been completed on the first two shelters and the 41 cabins in Lehi. A cabinet is prepared for the houses connected to the service.

Two cabins are under construction and should be ready for connection soon and a fourth cabin is completing its pre-construction phase. Other cabinets are in the design, evaluation and data collection stages.

STRATA Networks will take about two months to complete construction and place fiber cables on the network around the cabinet. After the cables are laid, it will take just a few days to run the fiber from the main network to an individual home or business and install an optical network terminal that connects users to the Internet, Ruitenbeck said at the June 13 City Council meeting.

“I am very excited to bring this new service to the citizens of Lahi,” Johnson said in a statement. “We understand the importance of reliable utility services. We have long recognized the importance of our energy system and the fact that we own our own energy company for citizens. I believe the same will happen at this high-speed Internet network.”

Lehi isn’t the first city in Utah to build a fiber network, and it won’t be the last.

Mapleton is in the process of building its own, and American Fork is working with STRATA Networks to create a fiber network. UTOPIA fiber networks are being installed in nearly 20 Utah cities, including the largest network in West Valley City.

This type of structure creates a marketplace where Internet service providers compete for customers and have incentives to innovate rather than lock competitors into monopolies.

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