Last year, Islesboro released a Request for Proposals (RFP) in their search for a contractor to complete Scope A of their Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network. Now the community is ready to move on with Scope B and recently released a second RFP for Construction Services for Fiber Optic Broadband Infrastructure. Proposals are due July 26, 2017.

Trading In DSL For Fiber

The town’s 600 year-round island population grows to more than 2,000 during the summer. As we’ve reported in the past, Fairpoint DSL serves much of the island, but residents are tired of unreliable, slow Internet access. They’ve decided to invest in publicly owned infrastructure and work with a private provider who will offer services across the community.

The city website describes the project:

The Town of Islesboro is currently constructing a Fiber-to-the-Premise network.  The network will span approximately 50 miles of fiber backbone, 40 miles of fiber drops, and a microwave wireless component connecting outlying islands. The FTTP network will provide universal access to gigabit service for approximately 675 homes and businesses. Construction of the outside fiber plant was previously awarded via a "Scope A" RFP process.  Installation of equipment and services at the premise was previously awarded via a "Scope C" RFP process.  The Town is now conducting a "Scope B" RFP process for the installation and testing of the transport and access electronics housed in the Point of Presence building.  Please see the documents listed below for complete information regarding this Request-for-Proposals.

Important Dates

Notification of Intent to Respond: June 22, 2017

Mandatory Pre-bid Conference Call: June 29, 2017 11:00 A.M. (EDT)

RFP Questions and Answers Conference Call: July 6, 2017

Written questions due: July 13, 2017

Proposals due: July 26, 2017 1:00 P.M. (EDT)

Charles City is looking to join the ranks of Iowa municipalities that offer fast, affordable, reliable connectivity via publicly owned fiber. The town of approximately 7,600 people released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Fiber-to-the-Premise Feasibility Study earlier this month. Responses are due May 5th.

In 2005, Charles City voters approved a referendum that gave the city the authority to establish a telecommunications utility. They’ve already taken steps to pursue an Internet network infrastructure project, but incumbents Mediacom and CenturyLink have made marginal improvements in local services whenever the city appeared to move beyond a the feasibility study phase. So far, the city has held off from making their own investment.

In 2014, they joined with ten other Iowa communities to study the possibility of a regional effort, which later became known as the Iowa Fiber Alliance (IFA). The positive outcome of that study encouraged Charles City to continue on and, after funding a local preliminary study, they decided to commission a full feasibility study.

In this RFP, Charles City states that its intention is to offer retail services, but the study should also include information about other business models like open access and public-private partnerships. They are looking for several proposed financing options, including General Obligation (GO) bonds and revenue bonds.

Iowa Fiber Alliance

The regional effort in which Charles City is participating may or may not come to fruition, so the community needs its consultant of choice to consider three different possibilities. From the RFP:

SCENARIO 1: IFA builds a fiber transport network of which Charles City has ownership rights. The City shares a proportional share of network construction and operations. The IFA aggregates Internet bandwidth among members and provides at least two diverse connections to peering points. For video and telephone service architecture, Charles City receives services from other IFA members. 


Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems allow utility systems to gather and analyze real time data. The computer system reduces outages, keeps the utilities running efficiently, and allows staff to know where problems arise. Municipal utilities that use SCADA systems are increasingly taking the next step - using the fiber-optic infrastructure that supports SCADA to bring better connectivity to town. Clarksville took that route and is now considering ways to become one of the best connected communities in Arkansas.

"I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore"

As the seat of Johnson County, Clarksville is located in the northwest area of the state along I-40 and is home to just under 10,000 people living at the foothills of the Ozarks near the Arkansas River. The area is known for its scenery and its tasty peaches and every summer, the county holds a popular Peach Festival. The nearest urban areas are Little Rock, about 90 minutes to the east, and Fort Smith about an hour west. 

Large employers in the community include University of the Ozarks, Tyson Foods, Haines, and Baldor, a motor and control manufacturing processor. There’s also a Walmart Distribution Center in Clarksville.

When he began as General Manager of Clarksville Light and Water (CLW) in 2013, John Lester realized that one of the challenges the municipal electric utility faced was that it did not have a SCADA system for managing the electric, water, or wastewater system communications. Even though the Clarksville utility system was well cared for and managed, a SCADA system could push it to the next level in efficiency and services.

Lester had been instrumental in optimizing the use of the fiber-optic network in Chanute, Kansas, which had been developed for the municipal utilities. He understood the critical nature of fiber connectivity to utility efficiency, public savings, and economic development. Over time, the Chanute network had attracted new jobs, opened up educational opportunities for K-12 and college students, and created substantial savings. 

Spring Hill, Kansas, just released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Citywide Fiber Optic Network Feasibility Study. The community of approximately 6,000 people has established April 26th as the deadline for submissions.

Open To Suggestions

Spring Hill wants study authors to look at several models, including:

INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER – the City provides conduit and dark fiber services for lease to community organizations, businesses and broadband providers, which use the fiber to connect to one another and to data centers to reach the internet, cloud services and other content networks;

OPEN-ACCESS PROVIDER – the City owns the fiber optic network and equipment needed to create a broadband network and may operate said network itself or in contract with others on its behalf. Content is typically resold from other providers;

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS – the City and one or more private organizations enter into a partnership to plan, fund, build, operate and maintain a broadband network within the municipality’s jurisdiction.

A Growing Community Needs To Grow Its Connectivity

Spring Hill has grown in recent years, tripling in size since 2000. Even thought there are two incumbents - CenturyLink and SuddenLink - some residences in the community don’t have access to either provider. Where a household is located within the city determines which, or whether, residents have any choices. The town is situated along the southern edge of the Kansas City metro.

According to the RFP, there’s an industrial part in the city that houses several local services and retail businesses. They anticipate even more business growth because a BNSF Intermodal Facility is located in town and commercial activity is growing nearby.

The local school district has recently undertaken a 1-to-1 laptop program for both middle and high school students, so the community will also need fast affordable, reliable connectivity to support the students both home and at school.

Important dates:

RFP respondent notice of intent due: Monday, April 10, 2017 

RFP respondent questions due: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 

Mount Washington has selected a firm to handle the design and construction services for its planned Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network.

Mount Washington

This past summer, the community received word that it would receive a $230,000 grant from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), the state agency set up to administer federal and state funds for broadband network deployment. Mount Washington had already obtained special permission from the state legislature to proceed with a network sans a Municipal Light Plant (MLP). In Massachusetts, municipalities are required to establish MLPs to operate and manage any publicly owned Internet network. Because Mount Washington is so small, however, they felt creating another administrative entity would be an undue burden; state legislators agreed and created an exception for them in statute.

This past spring, they released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to locate a firm for design and construction.

An Important Step

The town of 150 full-time residents is located in the far southwest corner of the state and much of the community is covered by forest. The Mount Washington State Forest, the Mount Everett State Reservation, and the Taconic Mountains, give the community its nickname: “The Town Among The Clouds.” Incumbents have shied away from investing in Mount Washington; even plain old telephone service is bad there. 

The town considered participating in the Wired West broadband cooperative, but eventually chose to pursue their own network. Mount Washington’s publicly owned network will connect to MassBroadband 123, the statewide middle mile network. The network will also need to find an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to offer Internet access via the new infrastructure.

In the press release, announcing the decision to move on to the next step:

Laurinburg, North Carolina, is considering opening its fiber-optic network to private providers.

It’s been over a year since the community contracted with a consultant to inventory the community’s assets and provide options for expanding its use to the private sector. Since then, community leaders have discussed looking for potential partners and have met with private providers. According to the Laurinburg Exchange, the city will likely release a Request for Proposals (RFQ) as a way to let providers know they are interested in investigating ways to make excess capacity available.

Community leaders believe providers could make use of the publicly owned fiber for fixed wireless service, lease fiber for business Internet access and telephone services, web hosting, and other services. City Manager Charles Nichols said:

“The city has the capability to offer all those services now; we know this is an asset to this community and we’re trying our best to figure out a way to utilize it.”

Laurinburg already connects ten entities with its network, including County facilities, schools, healthcare clinics and hospitals, the airport, and several local businesses. Community leaders want to spur economic development by offering high-quality connectivity in Laurinburg to more businesses.

Tapping An Existing Resource

The city deployed its fiber-optic network in the mid-1990s to improve communications between city hall and its public works facilities. It later leased excess capacity to other public entities, including several facilities that obtained Internet access and data transmission through School Link. As the city has expanded network footprint, it now consists of a 100-mile ring that surrounds the county.

Laurinburg prevailed in a lawsuit commenced by BellSouth in the early 2000s when the provider argued the city had no authority to operate the system. When the trial and appellate courts examined the prevailing statute and the technology in place, however, both found for the city. Since then, state law has changed but Laurinburg’s right to operate its system is grandfathered in; they are still, however, subject to the state prohibition on expansion

Glenwood Springs recently released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) as it looks for firms to help them develop broadband planning. The Colorado community’s residential Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) pilot program obtained a 25 percent take rate just by word of mouth and according to the RFQ, community leaders in Glenwood Springs are ready to expand that success. Proposals are due February 28th.

Beyond The Pilot

We told you about the community’s early deployment of fiber for businesses, community anchor institutions (CAIs), and  municipal facilities, and how the city offered wireless service to residents. The pilot program offers the opportunity for 36 homes to connect to the fiber network; speeds range from 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) at $40 - $70 per month, respectively. The program obtained a positive cash flow in its third month and broke even at 58 months, according to the RFQ.

The RFQ states:

The City is seeking qualified firms to assist the City with the development of (1) a financially sustainable broadband internet business model (“Model”) and (2) a detailed implementation plan.  The Model will consist of a comprehensive business plan, detailed financial model, and recommended financing options.  Upon successful delivery and adoption of the comprehensive business model (Phase 1), an implementation plan consisting of network design, construction documents, sample RFP documents, and a marketing strategy will be developed (Phase 2).  

Glenwood Springs already owns significant fiber resources, its own Broadband Department within the municipal electric utility, and has been operating the network since 2002. The community opted out of restrictive state law SB 152 in 2008.

Nelson County, Virginia, recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a vendor to operate its open access fiber network. Proposals are due February 3, 2017.

BTOP And Be More

The Nelson County Broadband Authority (NCBA) obtained grant funds under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP - one of two federal broadband stimulus programs), which allowed it to deploy 31 miles of backbone and laterals. In 2015, the county used a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and a Local Innovation Grant (LIG) to expand the network further to a total of 39 miles. The NCBA also uses several towers to complement wireline service.

The network now has approximately 350 customers. In keeping with the terms of the BTOP criteria, the network is open access and the NCBA describes itself as a wholesale Ethernet transport provider. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer Internet access and other types of services via the infrastructure.

According to the RFP, the NCBA requires:

The primary roles are to operate, monitor, and manage the network meaning to configure to order using the management systems of Calix, capture and report network outages and anomalies including traffic throughput issues, and manage projects for the continued enhancement of the network as required by the NCBA. Other roles include monthly billing of SPs and generating monthly billing and other financial reports to be provided to NCBA. 

Quiet And Connected

Nelson County is an extremely rural area in the north central part of the state; only about 15,000 people live in the entire county. The county seat of Lovingston has a population of 520. Tourism and a variety of home-based businesses are important to the Nelson County economy. Thanks to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the George Washington National Forest, the county is filled with hilly terrain, hiking trails, fishing, and vineyards. 

Access the full RFP online; the due date for proposals is February 3, 2017.

Earlier this spring, Pikeville, Kentucky, released an RFI for partner interest to bring Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to businesses, community anchor institutions, municipal facilities, and residential properties. The Appalachian community is ready to move forward and recently released its Request for Proposals (RFP) for Partnership for FTTP Network Deployment. Responses are due January 4, 2017.

A Measured Approach

The community wants any potential partners to focus on a project to be executed in phases. This RFP is for Phase One, described as:

Phase One of the City’s multi-stage project will include constructing a fiber backbone in the selected service area—approximately 57 miles of distribution fiber that will pass 2,850 homes, businesses, and other community organizations that represent potential customers. Phase One will also include constructing a network “core” site that will aggregate traffic from the FTTP sites and house the network’s routers that will allow for interconnection with other networks including the network’s “upstream” connection to the Internet. Planning for upstream connectivity is a critical element of the partnership, and will require meaningful coordination between the City, the Partner, and the Commonwealth. 

Eventually, the goal is to deploy a network that will serve the city of Pikeville (pop. 7,000), nearby Coal Run Village, and other areas in Pike County. Pikeville expects to receive grants, but also anticipates contributing to the cost of the project with funds from bonds, loans, or other mechanism. They also state in the RFP that, depending on the type of partnership, they anticipate some sharing of risk and financial contribution from the partner they choose.

Pikeville

Alford, Massachusetts, located along the western border of Massachusetts, recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for fiber optic network design and contractors; the community wants to deploy a Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. Deadline for proposals is December 21, 2016.

A Long Journey To Now

Alford is home to approximately 500 residents and has pursued better connectivity since the early 2000s, when it first approached the incumbents. As is often the case, national providers continued to pass by Alford over the years leaving them with old, unreliable technology. During 2012 and 2013, the community took the necessary steps and voted to create a Municipal Light Plant (MLP), the entity that manages publicly owned networks in Massachusetts. Since then, they have formed a broadband committee, conducted surveys of local interest and requirements, and examined financial models. 

In 2015, the town approved a measure to borrow $1.6 million to cover the expenses to deploy a FTTP network. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), the state agency tasked with administering more than $71 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and state funds, informed the MLP Board that the town will receive approximately $290,000 in grants funds.

The Alford MLP’s November update reports that the community has made significant progress on make-ready work to prepare utility poles:

The MLP has now come to an agreement with Verizon and National Grid about the extent of “make-ready” work required to prepare the poles to accept fiber. In the next few weeks the MLP will make payments to the utilities, clearing the way for the work to begin. The MLP has no control over the timing of the work, which will probably begin around year- end and which can take up to six months to complete. 

The Project