Given the high costs of deploying fiber to the home, we're starting to see new models emerge whereby if customers really want it, they can share the cost of having it installed (one Norwegian ISP gives a $400 rebate if you dig your own fiber trench). Now Utopia, the nation's largest municipal fiber deployment, is testing a new model whereby communities who want the fiber deployed can share the cost of installation. As more Utah cities look to connect to Utopia but debate how they should pay for it, Brigham City has decided that if users want fiber they can pay for it themselves. 1,600 local residents have already ponied up $3,000 a piece, helping the city install a $5.5 million network while the city itself only puts up about $700,000 of the required cost.

Wisconsin-based TDS Telecom (see our user reviews) today announced that the company will soon launch 50 Mbps downstream and 20 upstream upstream fiber service in Monticello, Minnesota. According to the company, the service will cost customers $64.95/month when bundled with local phone service. For those who don't want to bundle, the company also offers a nice looking "Broadband Raw" tier, that includes 50 Mbps service and local access to 911 services for $49.95/month.

"The need for speed is insatiable, in Monticello and around the nation," says TDS market manager Tom Ollig.

Telephony Online explores how two Louisiana fiber to the home outfits are forcing local cable operators to lower prices, something that rarely happens (especially with cable TV) when cable operators are simply facing competition from the local phone company. Cox has frozen the cable rates in Lafayette, after the city deployed incredibly well-priced fiber to the home service early this year. "We figured our citizens saved over $3 million in cable rates even before we could offer them service," says Lafayette Terry Huval. Of course if the local incumbent operator is willing to take a local loss in order to drive these carriers out of business, the fun won't last long.

Back in 2006, the 5,500-resident town of Powell, Wyoming decided to spend $4.9 million on a private-public (no taxpayer risk) fiber network. According to the project pricing sheet, the outfit is offering a 10Mbps/5Mbps tier for $42.45 standalone, $39.95 when bundled with voice or TV, or $35.95 when bundled with both VoIP and TV service. According to the Powell Tribune, network construction, contracting and cleanup is now complete, while the paper also notes the network has attracted companies and jobs:Local cable company Bresnan has advertising locally that they've been offering "fiber" since 2003. According to the Associated Press, Powell is now mandating that all developers building subdivisions in Powell must also install fiber-optic lines along with traditional infrastructure, such as sewers.

For many years we've tracked Chattanooga, Tennessee's attempt to wire the entire city with fiber to the home using the local public utility, Electric Power Board (EPB). Back in 2007, the city council voted 8-0 to approve the $200 million project, and despite two failed attempts by cable industry lawyers, the plan is moving forward. The EFB is now offering somewhat pricey (at least when compared to municipal fiber in Lafayette) symmetrical tiers of 15 Mbps ($58), 20 Mbps ($70) and 50 Mbps ($175), in addition to phone and TV bundles. According to Business Tennessee, the now well-weathered debate over the project continues, though EFB continues to insist that 2,600 new jobs will be created in the Greater Chattanooga area as the project evolves.