UTOPIA Fiber Internet service is a highly regarded internet connectivity network operating in northern Utah, in Salt Lake City and surrounding cities. With limited service areas and municipal opt in participation per city, those who have this service available to them as an option often consider themselves lucky.
Founded in 2004 by 11 Utah cities, UTOPIA stands for “Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency” and is an open-access fiber optic network with a mission to bring high speed internet connectivity to every resident and business in their communities.
UTOPIA continues to expand its service area and footprint, and now including 20 cities and 3 operational partners.
As of 2025-07-24, residential service customers pay a $30 per month UTOPIA network access fee and then choose an ISP to provide internet service for an additional monthly fee (as low as $43.95/month for 1Gbps). Autopay for the UTOPIA network access fee is available via Xpress Bill Pay, making it easy and convenient. There’s no sign up fees, no term commitment, and no initial install or equipment fees!
This is a community owned network, and it shows with the excellent speeds, reliability, uptime and superb customer service. The “open network” philosophy protects consumers by providing choice of ISP’s and ease of switching to another, if needed.
Let’s take a look at the sign up process…
To sign up, you enter in your home or business address to confirm you’re within a UTOPIA service area, and then you’ll be presented with a large list of different ISP’s to chose from. The image above shows 3 different provider options, but there’s often a dozen provider choices in the list. I’m my latest search I even found Intellipop, which offered 2 months free and then charges $49.95/month for 1Gbps service.
UTOPIA speeds are symmetrical, which means you’ll get the same Download and Upload speeds, which is a stark contrast from Cable internet providers like Comcast Xfinity, who offer zippy Download speeds, but poor Upload speeds (and more often than not, subpar customer service).
After signing up and scheduling an install appointment at my home in Murray, UT, I met up with the technicians, who arrived in a white utility van. We searched the home together and found that a UTOPIA fiber line had already been run to the premises, but the modem/box was missing from the previous tenant.
The technicians installed the DZS fiber modem(?) box on the wall over top of the fiber cable and a plastic mounting bracket, located in my basement unfinished room. After a few tests, the techs confirmed that everything was set up appropriately and all service was working as intended.
I had this install scheduled prior to my move in to this home, so I wasn’t able to test on activation day.
I later received the UTOPIA welcome box in the mail, pictured at the top of this article. Upon opening (pictured below), I found the following items in the box:
- A UTOPIA blanket
- Welcome card
- Referral card
- 2 packs of microwave popcorn
- Redvines candy
The blanket is great and we use it all the time! The popcorn and candy was a nice touch too.
I selected “ConnectFast” as my initial ISP for UTOPIA, as at the time, they had the lowest rates for 1Gbps service. As of today, they no longer have the lowest rates, and I’ve since switched to CentraCom. I was extremely displeased with ConnectFast’s rate hiking and communication. I did not appreciate that on 2025-05-01, they notified me that they would be raising their rates from $35/month to $48/month with a very low notice period ( less than 1 month notice ). Thankfully, the beauty of UTOPIA being an open network is that you can switch ISP’s easily, and that’s exactly what I did!
When talking to ISP’s and selecting one, make sure to ask about sign up specials, as many will offer the first month of service free (thanks CentraCom!).
7 months in, I’m very happy with the UTOPIA Fiber network. The speeds have been fast and consistent, the uptime has been fantastic, and the customer service has been great. In my humble opinion, UTOPIA now rivals Google Fiber as one of the top Internet Connectivity options in the country! If you’re looking for internet service with these speeds and pricing tiers, I highly recommend giving UTOPIA a try!
More fun facts about UTOPIA:
UTOPIA Fiber—the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency—is a pioneering, community-owned open‑access fiber‑to‑the‑premises network built and operated by a consortium of Utah municipalities since 2004. Unlike traditional ISP monopolies, UTOPIA only builds the infrastructure and then enables multiple independent ISPs (like XMission, Sumo, Veracity) to compete over their network, giving residents real choice, competition, and better prices. One of its standout technical features is that each home gets a dedicated fiber line directly from the hub—no shared bandwidth—providing uninterrupted gigabit speeds even during peak usage. UTOPIA has grown rapidly in recent years: in 2023 alone they deployed 2.7 million feet of fiber (enough to circle Salt Lake City seven times), connected over 23,000 homes and 1,272 businesses, and added more than 8,200 residential subscribers, pushing their subscriber base past 60,000 . They now serve 20 Utah cities with residential speeds up to 10 Gbps and business plans up to 100 Gbps—among the fastest in the U.S.
