So I was recently approached by a neighbor that was looking to have an internet service installed in their home. I naturally told them about how I have Broadweave and all non technical issues aside, I have been mostly happy with the service. So anyway, the person that I am helping get service to their house is older and not very computer savvy. I told him that I would take care of it all for him, he just needed to give me a budget of what he was willing to spend. He already has TV service at his house through Dish network, as well as traditional phone through Qwest. His kids recently pooled together and got him some new funky internet phone with video. They’re really excited to use it so they can see their grandkids, etc. So he is just looking to add internet service. Broadweave has an internet service package as low as $19.95/month. I told him about this and we both felt it would be perfect.

For those who don’t know, Broadweave is a FTTH (Fiber to the Home) provider. So it’s a really killer service. There however is a huge amount of history behind Broadweave. The network originally was started by Provo city, known as iProvo. iProvo did not provide services on the network, the merely provided the network to resellers. So when you chose to get iProvo, you had your choice of a couple of different providers, rates, and packages. Both my parents and myself signed up when it was still iProvo.  Later, through a whole mess of shady deals and dirty contracts, Provo city sold the network to Broadweave roughly a year ago or so. Just google iProvo and Broadweave and you can find all the history.

Anyway, back to today. So I called Broadweave to get the ball rolling for my neighbor. The first question they asked, before anything else was if I had fiber already installed to the home. I replied no. He’s never had it before. They said, “The installation fee will then be $600.00 since you don’t already have fiber and a portal installed. Do you still want to sign up?” MY jaw hit the floor, and I immediately replied no thank you. How in the world do they expect to grow their customer base with an installation fee like that? Needless to say I’ve since signed him up with Qwest DSL with no installation fee.

Ever since Broadweave came into the picture, I always worried about how long they would last. After reading a few recent news stories, some explaining the exorbitant Installation fee, I am still worried. Check out some of the stories below if you’re interested. I understand it takes a lot of capital to hook someone up to a fiber network. But who in their right mind is going to spend $600 to install internet in their home? Maybe a business, but not my home. If that’s what they were charging when I signed up (which at that time installation was free) I would have gone with Comcast or Qwest for sure.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/305228/17/
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705271179,00.html