The Pella City Council received a presentation about a proposed municipal telecommunications business plan at their meeting this week. City Administrator Mike Nardini says there were three key findings by FARR Technologies about what the community expects if a utility is developed.

“First and foremost, when we talk about a telecommunications utility, one of the things people found very important in the survey is that it provides state-of-the-art technology, the other thing that ranked highly was that reliable service was a key issue, and the third item that really hit home was the expectation for reliable customer service.”

Additionally, Nardini says the key recommendation for the city was to have it run as a full utility, similar to how the electric department operates. The utility would include fiber internet with gigabit service, cable tv, and phone service, and the business plan provided by FARR Technologies included a desire for competitive pricing and a ten-year financial plan that should it’s a viable project.

Over the next 60-90 days, Nardini says the project will go through a “due-diligence” phase, which includes exploring financing options and better honing in the rollout.

Hear more about the telecommunications utility on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.