CENTERVILLE — Sometimes, the only way to solve a potential problem is to speak up.

Centerville is still organizing its response to Qwest’s letter, which was sent to the city in late October in response to Centerville’s discussions about using an RDA loan to help speed up UTOPIA’s presence in the city.

The letter highlights Qwest’s concern that the move would not only violate the court’s judgement in Qwest’s 2007 lawsuit against UTOPIA, but also federal and state telecommunications acts.

“Qwest’s concern is the proposed loan or lease agreement from the city may violate both state law and the court’s conclusion which UTOPIA itself agreed with,” said Qwest Communication’s Mark Molzen. “That’s why we sent the letter.”

In the letter, Qwest states that they feel the loan and the financial benefit that would result would give UTOPIA an “undue and unreasonable advantage in the marketplace,” which is the element they feel violates the judgement.

The federal law in question is the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which as part of its efforts to create fair competitiveness prohibits subsidies from non-competitive services to competitive services. Since Utah’s Municipal Cable Television and Public Services Act requires that cities providing public telecommunications services be in accordance with the Telecommunications Act, Qwest believes that the loan would also be in violation of this state law.

Qwest also denies the speculation that their 2005 lawsuit against UTOPIA, also based on unfair marketplace advantage, had any effect on UTOPIA’s 18-month startup delay.

“Nothing in Qwest’s 2005 lawsuit had anything to do with UTOPIA’s construction delays, including UTOPIA’s inability to access Qwest poles,” said Molzen. “UTOPIA has always had the ability to enter into the appropriate agreements to obtain proper access to Qwest’s poles.”

As for Centerville City, the council recently asked city lawyer Lisa Romney to draft a response that, according to city manager Steve Thacker, “stated the city’s view of the issues raised in Qwest’s letter.” Thacker, along with assistant city manager Blaine Lutz, were instructed to continue researching ways to help speed up UTOPIA’s presence in Centerville.

The original discussion, brought up in work sessions between UTOPIA and Centerville Redevelopment Agency (RDA) representatives earlier this fall, centered around the idea of the RDA loaning money to UTOPIA for the laying of fiberoptic cables in the city’s RDA area. The RDA would then use that network as a lure to bring higher-tech businesses into the city, and would later be paid back by revenues earned by the network.

jwardell@davisclipper.com