Mayor Michelle G. Kafusi
- On Provo
“Provo was an early adopter of broadband, fiber to the home networks. While our network is now owned by Google Fiber, we still believe that universal access to broadband is a differentiator for cities. Continuing our high quality of life and our strong economic growth is seriously enhanced by broad access to high broadband speeds.”
- On Next Century Cities
“One of my campaign commitments was to a spirit of collaboration – among elected officials, staff, the public and other governmental units. Our services are usually better and more efficient when we work together within and outside the public sector, and I try to look for opportunities to work with other cities in our state and beyond to improve service delivery and strengthen our city’s focus on our high quality of life.”
- What Provo is working on
Provo at one time had the largest municipal fiber to the home network. Unfortunately, being an early adopter was challenging with market forces and legislative limits hamstringing our efforts. Five years ago, the City sold the network to Google Fiber and we became the third Google Fiber city and the first to use the model of building a fiber network with city resources and then selling it to Google. Google undertook a significant upgrade of the network and its equipment from a 100MB limit to 1 gigabit and beyond. Today, Google Fiber is accessible to every residence and business in the City offering gigabit broadband speeds to homes and small businesses alike. The City appreciates the ongoing relationship with Google and it has been a significant strategic advantage in our business development efforts, in having world class public education offerings, and in nourishing the entrepreneurial spirit in Provo.
