Ammon Fiber Cost Breakdown
The City of Ammon considers Fiber Optics to be a critical utility infrastructure, just like our cities water, sewer, and garbage.
The Ammon Fiber Model is unique in that we separate the physical fiber infrastructure from the internet service. The City does not provide service, it provides residents with the physical infrastructure.
The Ammon Fiber model breaks down the traditional internet costs to be more transparent to you the resident. The cost of fiber installation to your home is broken down in three parts:
Infrastructure Installation Fee:This is the cost to build out the initial Fiber infrastructure to your home and place a fiber modem [VBG (Virtual Broadband Gateway)]. This is a one-time cost, that once it is paid off it goes away. We typically use Local Improvement Districts (LID) to pay for the initial construction cost. Essentially, what happens is we take the cost of getting fiber to each home and divide that by how many people signed up for fiber. The more residents who sign up in an area, the lower the initial construction cost per resident. In the past this cost has been less than $4000 and is due in the form of an assessment on the home at the end of the project. If you choose to let this amount take the form of monthly payments, it will be around $26 a month. |
Operation and Maintenance Utility Fee:After the fiber infrastructure to your house is completed that infrastructure will need maintenance to keep things working. This cost covers things like equipment failures, repairs, troubleshooting, replacing bad connections, etc. The Infrastructure Maintenance cost is $21.00 per month and is subject to change by City Council. This amount will show up on your City utility bill. |
Internet Service Fee:The service cost is basically the cost for connecting to the internet. The City has Internet Service Providers on its network; the City does not provide service. As of this writing [June 2023] there are five Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For residential they are Direct Communications, Fybercom, Sumo, QwkNet and Advanced Stream. This cost varies but is roughly between $5-$109. This cost is controlled by and paid directly to the ISP and you will need to set up billing with whomever you choose. All services provided have no data caps and no contracts. Current prices, as of the snapshot can be found Here |
Options for Paying the Assessment.
As an example, we will use an amount of $4,028.39, which was the assessment amount for LID5. The way we get this number is taking the cost for the whole project and dividing it by the take rate(or the amount of people who signed up). Your assessment amount for the fiber infrastructure should be close to this amount. At the end of the project you are in you should receive a letter in the mail that lets every resident in the Local Improvement District know their amount of the total project. There are some options to pay this at the end of the project. All options, other than paying the full amount within 30 days, include interest.
- Pay Full Amount: Residents may pay the full amount at Ammon City Hall, located at 2135 S. Ammon Rd. Residents will have 30 days after the LID has closed to pay off the amount without interest. After 30 days, interest will be added to the payoff amount.
- Annual Payments. Residents can pay an annual payment of approximately $320 per year. Annual assessment payments will be sent out each year. This option is what is chosen by default.
- Monthly Payments. If choosing monthly payments, please call 208-612-4000
to set up monthly payments. We would expect this payment amount to be around $26 per month.
Assessment of Zero Dollars.
If you receive an assessment for $0.00 then you do not have to pay anything because you opted to not receive fiber to your home. You received the assessment because we are required to notify every resident within the LID area, regardless of if they signed up or not.
Why should you care?
Joining the Ammon Fiber Optic Utility presents a unique value with unique benefits.
Fiber Optic benefits:
- Superior performance
- Improved reliability
- Dedicated connection (not shared)
- Stronger security
- Costs less to install
- Costs less to operate
- Futureproof
Open Access benefits:
- Choice
- Competition
- No data caps
- No contracts
- True cost transparency
Utility benefits:
- Not operated for profit
- Member owned, managed and operated
- Increases home value (national average +3% - 5%)
- City of Ammon supports and maintains infrastructure
- Equipment replacement is built into maintenance & operations (M&O) expense
Late-comers (After LID project closes) pay full amount up front, This amount has been set by the city council.
Actual assessment amount depends on take-rate, which means we will not fully know this amount till the LID closes.
Past historical LID costs were:
-
- LID1 $2,950
- LID2 $3,350
- LID3 $3,495
- LID4 $3,450
- LID5 $4,028
In the short term, you can enjoy superior service for the same or even less than you are paying now.
Over time, no other option compares to the value found by joining the Ammon Fiber Utility. Once the installation costs are paid, no other option comes even comes close in price or performance.
So if Ammon is your home and you want to invest in yourself and the local community, please give serious consideration to joining us as we 'build the next internet'.
Monthly Fiber Costs opt1:
Below is a breakdown of anticipated costs, if the residential homeowner chooses to pay the installation fee monthly.
|
Monthly Construction Fee Monthly Utility Fee Monthly Access to ISP Services Total Monthly |
$26.00 $21.00 $14.00 (Range $5 - $109) $61.00 |
Monthly Fiber Costs opt2:
Below is a breakdown of anticipated costs, if the Residential homeowner chooses to pay the installation fee off completely, that fee goes away.
|
Monthly Utility Fee Monthly Access to ISP Services Total Monthly |
$21.00 $14.00 (Range $5 - $109) $35.00 |
Local Improvement District (LID)
What is Fiber Optic Service?
The best way to deliver Internet and network services is through optical fiber. Fiber is the clear winner when compared to other wired or fixed wirelss technologies. Unlike other solutions, fiber performance can be constantly improved without requiring any new fiber. That's why fiber is said to be "futureproof".
To learn more about fiber, watch the following informational video:
To better understand what the city is doing and why, watch the following informational video:
If you are wondering about others experience working with the City, watch the following informational video:
Running fiber all the way to the home (fiber-to-the-home) is the best method of providing more reliable and robust internet, video and voice services.
The City of Ammon is expanding its Fiber Optic Utility across neighborhoods where there is enough demand. The City measures demand by tracking online sign ups. Residents interested in seeing fiber brought to their neighborhood should 'sign up' to show their interest, thereby helping the City decide where to extend the utility next.
How can I get fiber?
First, the City needs to get fiber installed in your neighborhood. Voluntary improvement projects are created for this purpose. These projects are expanding Fiber Optic Service into more neighborhoods. As potential project areas are identified, residents within the proposed project boundaries will be notified via email (as per the contact information provided via the sign up form).
Once a neighborhood is selected for a project, each property owner has the opportunity to receive fiber by filing an 'Opt-In Certificate' with the City. This certificate officially requests the installation of Fiber and serves as a binding commitment to pay for the installation either upon project completion or over time by means of a municipal bond attached to the property. If a project is already under way in your neighborhood, you can pick up an opt in certificate from the City or fill out the form here.
For more information, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
How can I get fiber if my neighborhood has it but my property doesn't?
This can happen when a property located within an improvement project does not request an installation. Since there is now fiber available in the neighborhood, you can request an installation. However, there is no longer any way for the City to assist with financing. Therefore, all install costs must be paid in full prior to work being done.