Communications Utility Celebrates Financial Milestone
Posted
on Friday, January 25, 2019
The CFU Communications Utility recently marked an important financial milestone. In December, the utility paid its last loan payment and moves forward debt-free.
Twenty-four years ago, a citizen initiative launched the Cedar Falls Municipal Communications Utility. In the years that have followed, Cedar Falls residents have turned the utility into an example of community broadband success.
In 1994, no provider offered high-speed internet service in Cedar Falls, and the companies then serving the town had no plans to upgrade their networks any time soon. Citizens were not willing to wait, and led the charge to pass a referendum that founded our community broadband service and tasked CFU with designing, building and running it.
As one of the first cities in the nation with fiber optic infrastructure, Cedar Falls was ready for the internet boom that followed. Families could easily connect to information and entertainment sources. Fast, reliable, economical internet service helped local businesses grow and prosper.
To meet growing customer demand we upgraded to an all-fiber optic network, completed in 2013. The network offers a direct fiber connection to every home and business, with gigabit internet available citywide.
Because of the strong community demand for its services, the Communications Utility is fully
self-supporting through subscription fees. CFU’s local Board of Trustees sets our rates. We keep rates as low as possible, but high enough to pay all the bills. The rates we charge customers for internet, TV and phone services cover daily operations and system improvements.
Today our broadband utility is financially sound, built for the future and ready to continue serving the people of Cedar Falls for many years to come. Debt-free operations allow the utility to continue to offer reasonable rates and innovative services. Our Board has authorized the continuous reinvestment needed to keep CFU broadband on the leading edge of speed and reliability. Next up in 2019, we will begin a citywide upgrade to 10 gigabit internet service.
We are here to serve the citizens of Cedar Falls. We thank every customer for your support and for the honor of connecting Cedar Falls to the world for the last 24 years.