Community Fiber Project Funding Northwest Colorado Broadband Case Study
Panel Participants Jane Blackstone - Board President, Northwest Colorado Broadband Ken Brenner - Trustee, Colorado Mountain College Tim Miles - Technology Director, Steamboat Springs School District & South Routt School District Charlie Wick - Colorado Telehealth Network
Agenda - Northwest Colorado Broadband - Routt County Broadband Plan - 2016 Fiber Build Project Overview - Funding Sources - Layering and Leverage: - E-Rate Funding - FCC Rural Healthcare
- Summary - Q&A
Northwest Colorado Broadband - 2012: one middle-mile provider with fiber in one direction; costs 5-10X higher than in metro Denver; inadequate bandwidth -- significant outage - Goal: ample, redundant and affordable broadband - Partners: Chamber, City of Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Steamboat Springs School District, Yampa Valley Electric Association, Colorado Mountain College - Mantra: “For the greater good”
Initial Steps - Weekly meetings - leaders at the table - Formed non-profit (NCB, North West Colorado Broadband) - Aggregated demand and resources - RFP for middle mile provider to deliver 1 Gig into a “meet me” room at SSSD; constructed fiber from Telco CO to CNL (Carrier Neutral Location) - NCB initial cost $5000 ea (4), $125,000 Donor, + (Generator, Legal, (in kind)) - Savings for shared connection, easy connections: City, County, SSSD
- Parallel path: - SB-152 exemption - November 2015 - Planning to connect all NCB members - Routt County Plan
Routt County Strategic Broadband Plan - RFP; NEO Fiber selected - Plan incorporated ongoing project planning - Strategy: build open-access middle mile to grant-eligible community institutions; leverage existing assets; facilitate P3 to reach un- and underserved locations and increase competition - Plan complete Spring 2016
2016 Fiber Build - 48,499 linear feet of 288-strand fiber optic trunk between east and west Steamboat - Lateral connections to: Routt County Public Safety Complex; YVEA HQ and substations; City of Steamboat Springs Fire Station; School District facilities; YVMC facilities; and CMC Alpine Campus - Splice points and capacity to accommodate future publicprivate partnerships
Fiber Project Overview - Started with County’s need (and budget) for better service to Public Safety/ Justice Center -- and availability of DOLA grant funding - Simultaneous need for connecting additional anchor institution facilities to the CNL - Result: six partners cooperating on DOLA grant application by County - Contracts to allocate assets and for O&M
ROI Routt County
$13,200/year
City
Replaces WF WAN
SSSD
$156,000/year
YVEA
$40,000/year
YVMC
$1.5 M cost avoided
CMC
Redundancy
All:
Redundancy, price, capacity, future growth, future sharing
Community Benefits - Open access capacity - Opportunities for public-private partnerships - Associated community and economic development opportunities - Foundation for further expansion
Funding Sources - DOLA Grant: $750,000 - Local Cash Match: $750,000 (six partners) - In-kind contributions from six partners: engineering, conduit, YVEA-pole attachments and make ready, CNL investments - Prior investments valued at $1.2 million - E-Rate Grants - FCC Rural Healthcare Grants
Grant Funding -
DOLA -
-
50:50
FCC Rural Healthcare -
65:35
- E-Rate - -
50:50 60:40 (Potential)
Layering: E-Rate - Fund available to Schools and Libraries - Approximately 2 Billion dollars with add’l 2 Billion added over next few years - Traditionally-leased only services - Providers built out networks or subsidized their networks with this funding
- 2016/2017 Added Self Provisioned Client Networks - SSSD has submitted a Self Provisioned Network application - Compare costs against Leased Services - 5YR Term new $550,000-$930,000 - 5YR Term old $750,000+ - Self Provisioned - $400,000-$530,000 - Nominal Mt Fee
FCC 400 Million Dollar Annual Rural Healthcare Subsidy Programs Overview Broadband Network o 210 site, secure, health care dedicated broadband network infrastructure connecting hospitals (rural and urban), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), rural clinics and, behavioral health centers in 63 of 64 Colorado counties o Federally subsidized broadband network through Federal Communications Commission (FCC)/Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Healthcare Connect Fund o 65% subsidy for CTN1 connected entities
Net Connect Subsidy Program o CTN managed assistance for securing a subsidy for advanced telecommunications services for Colorado's behavioral health, acute care, and safety net health care providers o Vendor neutral and open to all eligible telecommunication expenses o Participants save on average 50-51 percent off of current telecommunications spend
Building Communities Program o Broadband Buildout program for eligible not for profit health care entities (hospitals, rural health clinics, local health departments, community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrant workers, and post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools) o 60% subsidy for construction and “make ready”
Lessons and Opportunities - Cooperation is key - no silos! - Decision makers must be at the table - Be creative - Go for the greater good - Get to know potential funders and partners - Leverage your leverage - Engage providers and the community - Figure it out in the air!
Questions?
