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Broadweave not only party that wanted iProvo: Transparency? Xmission's Ashdown says city was unclear about intentions(Salt Lake Tribune, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 24--PROVO -- When Provo Mayor Lewis Billings announced in May that Broadweave Networks was buying iProvo, Pete Ashdown cried foul. Ashdown, chief executive of Xmission, said Provo's request for proposals (RFP) only indicated it was looking for service providers for the network, not putting the system up for sale. "This was a public asset," Ashdown said then, and he believed the city should have been more transparent in selling it. But city records now appear to bear out Billings' claim that Broadweave wasn't the only one that thought iProvo was for sale. At least two other companies -- Mstar and DynamicCity -- made offers to take over the network. There was a fourth company that wanted to take over iProvo, but the city has declined to name it, citing state law protecting commercial information, as well as claiming the company doesn't want to be publicly identified. Ashdown -- who said he never had intentions of buying iProvo but sought to be an Internet provider on the network -- said the disclosure proves his point: The city should have better advertised it was selling the system instead of using a vaguely worded RFP. Billings has defended the city's use of a vaguely worded RFP as a way to preserve the network's value. If word got out the city was selling the network, Billings argued it would drive the value down. "The council would have lumped on us if we messed it up and got 30 cents on the dollar," Billings said in May, referring to the sale of a municipal network in Marietta, Ga., that was sold for a 70-percent loss after it was publicly put up for sale. Instead, the city points to one sentence in the RFP : "This is an open invitation, and the city may elect as the sole judge to proceed with any proposal that bests serves its interests at that time." That sentence indicates the city was entertaining offers, say Provo officials. Billings said announcing that iProvo was on the block would have been disastrous for the city and the network. "I think it would have turned into a fire sale," Billings said, adding the city would have lost value. He said the sale wasn't a last-minute deal, but one that was carefully deliberated. But added it was fortunate that iProvo was sold before the economy took a turn for the worse. While Billings said he respects Ashdown, he said "he has the benefit if being in as close proximity to [the iProvo discussions] as we were." Billings would not say if Emery Telecom was the other party that expressed an interest in the network. Cory Turner, president of DynamicCity, said the language in the RFP appeared to solicit people who wanted to provide service on the network rather than buyers. "Personally, I thought it was a long shot," Turner said. DynamicCity's offer to take over management of the network was made by his predecessor, D. Keith Wilson, and Turner said he did not know how Wilson interpreted the RFP. But Ashdown doesn't believe that was the way to get the best value for an asset. He said New York auction houses and online auctioneer eBay demonstrate that publicity actually brings better value. One company that had been rumored as a possible buyer was Emery Telecom. But Brock Johansen, the company's chief executive, said his only interest in iProvo was gaining access to circuits on the network and providing service to some business customers in the area. "We were never intending to buy or lease iProvo," Johansen said. He said Provo officials said the circuits were not for sale; but the company could gain access if it applied as a service provider. The company has withdrawn that offer as well as a suggestion to form a partnership for upgrading iProvo's video transmission capabilities to send television signals over copper wires. [email protected] ?-- The offers Mstar, which is already a provider on the network, proposed operating iProvo as an open network, the same way it was operated before. The only difference would be that Mstar, as a private company, would also provide service and could market the system. DynamicCity, a Lindon based telecommunications company, proposed taking over the management of the network, and recruiting new providers. Broadweave Networks initially applied to be a service provider, but it said it would also "welcome the opportunity to explore in depth various opportunities, including but not limited to, offering network management services to full takeover of the maintenance and operation of the network." In May, the city announced that it would sell the system to Broadweave. To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |