Town of Holly Springs Town Council Meeting Agenda Form Town Clerk’s Office Use:
Agenda Item #: 9f Attachment #: 11f Meeting Date:
7-19-16
Agenda Placement: Consent (Special Recognitions (awards, proclamations), Requests & Communications (reports, information presentations), Public Hearings, Consent Agenda, Unfinished Business, New Business, Closed Session)
Subject Title:
Fiber Lease Request for Proposal Response
Presenter Name(s):
none
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUBJECT HIGHLIGHTS: The Town’s IT staff placed a legal ad in the Southwest Wake News on Sunday, July 6, 2016, in relation to opening the spare capacity of fiber on the Town’s network to any provider interested in bidding on a long term lease. The Town, using raw construction costs, set the starting bid and asked providers to propose offers on the use of the fiber. The only respondent was Ting and it is included with this agenda item.
Total Number of Motions: 1 Action(s) requested or suggested motion(s): Motion to accept the response to the request for proposal on excess fiber capacity as submitted by Ting with the rates set for a five-year rate lock, and terms being set as the request for bid required in the included exhibit.
Funds, if applicable, are to be appropriated from account(s) / line item(s): All revenue received from lease fees will be directed to the Fiber Enterprise fund for network expansion and maintenance of the network. SUBJECT IN GREATER DETAIL, IF NEEDED: The highlights of the request for bid are: - Tiered pricing for bulk use. - Option to lease fiber at same rate of bid for up to five years. - Specifications on timeline to utilize fiber in order to prevent hedging of resources. Even though other providers have requested information in the past on the network, there were no other responses to the request for proposals process outside of Ting. The IT Director accepts the bid that Ting offered.
Staff Review Record _______________________________________________________________________ Are there exhibits for this agenda item? 2 List them in order they should appear in packet: Proposal Response
Fiber Lease Request for Proposal, Fiber Lease Request for
Department head initials and comments, if applicable:
JSW
Finance director initials and comments, if applicable: N/A Town attorney initials and comments, if applicable: Town manager initials and / or comments:
css by jp
Agenda Topic Cover Sheet / last modified Dec. 2, 2013
Fiber Request for Proposals Project Overview The Town of Holly Springs has excess fiber capacity within the Town’s fiber network footprint that was completed in 2014. The Town is offering this capacity on a bid basis to companies who have active plans to build a fiber to the home and fiber to the business network providing, at minimum, symmetrical 1 Gbps speeds to subscribing Town residents and businesses, with fiber being brought directly to the home or business. The winning bidder will be given a five (5) year option in which to contract and begin using segments of the fiber within the infrastructure footprint at the winning bid rate. All segments leased will be for a 20 year IRU, and require an annual or monthly maintenance payment that is a fixed rate of 5% of the contracted IRU total value per mile annually, subject to increase at a rate no greater than the CPI on an annual basis. Network Information - Exhibit A: Network footprint - Approximately 17 miles of cable, with two additional miles either under construction or in planning. - All underground fiber network - Hand hole access on average no greater than 750’ apart. - Dual ring topology with limited lateral segments extending from the ring to ensure redundancy.Criteria for Bidder Selection Bidder shall be an incorporated entity with a proven track record in fiber to the home technology that is verifiably active in the planning stages of building a fiber to the home and fiber to the business network within the footprint of the Holly Springs Fiber Network. Bidder will submit fiber segments it needs to access in order to lock the proposed bid rate for a period no greater for 5 years on those network segments. Winning bidder must submit a preliminary construction plan to the Town’s Engineering Department to begin utilizing the fiber within 15 days of bid award to provide to at least one residential neighborhood in the corporate limits of Holly Springs with construction starting within the following 90-day period, starting on the date of plan submission, and provide active service to residents within 6 months. Bidder shall submit an overall plan with their bid response stating the estimated timeframe for targeting at least 80% of the incorporated footprint within the corporate limits of the town in order for town staff to ensure the winning bidder is not merely “hedging” through blocking competitive access to Town owned resources. Bidder shall submit as a part of the bid all relevant marketing information on their company and what plans they have for the community and any pre-marketing that has been completed to determine interest in the local market for fiber to the home and business 1 Gbps symmetrical internet service. Terms
Prior to signing any agreements for segments of fiber, the Town and winning bidder will work together to confirm whether any facility upgrades are necessary. If cables need to be upgraded to support the needs of the winning bidder, the Town must have an intent to lease from the winning bidder before upgrades to the Town’s fiber availability. The Town will not entertain bid offers for providers requesting fiber access for operation of a hybrid fiber-copper or fiber-wireless network. The bid shall be limited to direct fiber to the home and fiber to the business providers. The Town reserves the right to reject all bids for any reason, and to advertise the bid again at a later date. If the Town works faithfully with the winning bidder and is unable to agree on final contract terms, the Town reserves the right to enter discussions with the next highest bidder or rebid. Bidding Process The minimum bid rates acceptable to the Town are as follows, based on a 20 year IRU: For dark fiber IRU: 12-47 fibers at $500/fiber/mile 48-95 fibers at $300/fiber/mile 96-143 fibers at $200/fiber/mile 144+ fibers at $180/mile/fiber Bidding will commence on 7/3/2016 and end at noon on 7/11/2016. Bids received after noon on 7/11/2016 will not be accepted. Submit bids by e-mail to
[email protected], or through a trackable mailing service or physical delivery to: Jeff Wilson, IT Director Town of Holly Springs 128 S Main St Holly Springs, NC 27540 This is not a sealed bid process, and the town reserves the right to accept late bids if the Town can determine in good faith that the bid was late because of powers outside of the bidder’s control (i.e. a delivery service not meeting their promised delivery deadline). It is recommended that to ensure delivery to the Town, call Jeff Wilson at 919-567-4013 upon submission by e-mail or upon trackable or physical delivery to the Town. For all questions, please e-mail
[email protected].
TING FIBER INC. Response: Fiber Request for Proposals Town of Holly Springs
Response: July 7, 2016
Thank you for considering this response to the Town’s Request for Proposals for use of excess fiber capacity on its network. We believe gigabit connectivity will change the way people, businesses and institutions use the Internet, and are excited that Holly Springs shares this vision. We think your organization’s pioneering leadership on expanding next generation broadband infrastructure, combined with Ting’s track record of bringing affordable gigabit Internet, will lead to a robust, widely available fiber network in Holly Springs. From installation to service packages to support, Ting is genuinely committed to a superior customer experience, and in this proposal, we will outline how this commitment will result in highquality fibertothepremise services. Our goal with this response is to demonstrate that Ting is a forwardthinking, innovative company with unique ideas on how to leverage existing fiber assets within Town to bring gigabit broadband to the citizens and businesses of Holly Springs. We are interested in partnering with st the City to provide not just 21 century fiber Internet, but also an unparalleled customer experience. We hope you agree, and look forward to discussing this proposal with you in further detail. Sincerely, Adam Eisner Vice President of Networks, Ting Fiber
[email protected]
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Company background and experience Ting is a whollyowned subsidiary of Tucows. Our Internet Service Provider (ISP) roots date back to 1993, when ISPs and other partner sites around the world began ‘mirroring’ our software library to provide fast, local downloads to their end users and save on bandwidth costs. In 1995, Tucows was acquired by a leading Canadian ISP, and many key employees and executives from that era are still with Tucows today. Since our software library days, we have grown to become a leading provider of digital services to millions of users through a number of accomplishments: ● In 1999, we invented wholesale domain name registration; today, we are the largest wholesale domain name registrar in the world. Over 14,000 ISPs and web hosting companies use our platform to manage more than 14 million domain names in extensions such as .COM, .NET, .ORG, .US, and over 200 others. ● In February 2012 we launched Ting Mobile , a phone service that brings clarity and control to mobile phone customers. Today, Ting Mobile has over 125,000 customers across 200,000 devices, and was one of the highestrated wireless providers by Consumer Reports Magazine in both 2014 and 2015. ● In December 2014 and January 2015, we entered the fiber to the home business with the acquisition of Blue Ridge Internetworks in Charlottesville, VA, and the announcement of our Public Private Partnership with the City of Westminster, MD. Since then, we have launched gigabit Internet in both markets. ● In March 2016 we announced Sandpoint, Idaho has our fourth market. We are currently in the demand assessment phase of the process, and are preparing to move to engineering. Our headquarters are in Toronto, Canada; we also maintain offices in St. Catharines, ON (Canada), Starkville, MS (USA), Charlottesville, VA (USA), Westminster, MD (USA), Amsterdam (Europe), Bonn (Europe), and Singapore. We generate yearly revenues of approximately $200 million, are listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange (Ticker: TC) and Nasdaq Stock Exchange (Ticker: TCX), and employ more than 300 staff. Company experience As an Internet company with history spanning three decades, we have built significant experience in many areas that make us an ideal operator and provider for this project: We operate fiber networks in several markets, and are deeply experienced in liaising with local governments, authorities and utilities in each. 2
We operate hundreds of miles of fiber in multiple markets, requiring a variety of relationships and arrangements. From franchise agreements to leasing municipal assets, we have the experience, tools and staff to do so effectively. In Westminster, MD, for example, we have entered into a unique risksharing agreement with the City whereby Westminster has invested the funds and resources necessary to build a fiber network throughout the municipality; the City has in turn contracted with us to act as both network operator and as the initial service provider on the network. In exchange, we have entered into a unique risksharing arrangement that will see Ting guarantee a portion of the City’s debt incurred to further construct the network. This arrangement was recently awarded the “Innovative Partnership of the Year” award by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA). We have built and maintain/operate several FTTP markets: Charlottesville, Virginia Through our acquisition of Blue Ridge Internetworks (BRI), we have built and operate a gigabit fiber network constructed entirely using private funds, and which we continue to expand. As such, we have a great deal of experience navigating the challenges of designing and building a network capable of delivering gigabit Internet service. We provide gigabit fiber Internet and leased circuits to residences, businesses, apartments, condominiums and municipal institutions throughout the City. We also built and operate the City’s public downtown wifi network. All elements of the service, from physical plant design and construction to installing equipment in homes, are provided by Ting. Westminster, Maryland We launched gigabit broadband service to the City of Westminster’s test pilot areas in August 2015. The next phase of the project is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2016, and we are currently working with the City to prepare for this expansion. All network operation services and equipment in Westminster are managed by Ting. Moreover, all home and business installations are provided by Ting, and we are also the exclusive service provider at this time. Rockbridge County, Virginia We are the network operator of and a service provider on Rockbridge County’s fiber network, which covers a 60 square mile area, and offers fiber services to homes and businesses in the area. We currently offer speeds ranging from 25 to 100 megabits per second, as required by the speed and package specifications of the County. Nelson County, Virginia 3
In 2012, Nelson County chose BRI to manage its new 30mile fiber Internet network. Since then, we have been responsible for operating Nelson County’s Fiber to the Home network, and also provide service to homes and businesses as a service provider, using our own equipment and staff. We currently offer speeds in the range of 25 to 100 megabits per second, as required by the speed and package configurations mandated by the County. Sandpoint, Idaho We announced the selection of Sandpoint as our next gigabit market in February 2016. We are currently in the demand assessment phase of this project, and will be moving to engineering shortly. Similar to Holly Springs, we plan to leverage a portion of the dark fiber and conduit networks the city has constructed in order to introduce gigabit service to homes and businesses. We operate numerous successful service provider businesses, and operate a significant portion of their underlying networks. These are: ● Ting Internet : Ting Internet is our FTTP access service dedicated to providing broadband in the United States in the abovementioned markets. ● Ting Mobile: Ting Mobile is our rapidly growing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) based on multiple mobile networks. It is a popular choice among consumers and small businesses interested in saving money on their mobile services. ● Hover : Hover makes it easy to buy, manage and use domain names and email addresses. Hover serves more than 200,000 small businesses and consumers, and has more than 700,000 domain names under management. ● OpenSRS : OpenSRS is the wholesale Internet services unit of Tucows, exclusively focused on the needs of ISPs and web hosting companies. OpenSRS offers domain names, email addresses, digital security products and web publishing tools for millions of end users worldwide, through a reseller network of more than 14,000 providers. We operate a significant data network to support these businesses. As a leading provider of Internet and network services worldwide, we operate an extensive network of thousands of servers in data centers located throughout North America, highly scalable software, and advanced storage platforms based on our own technology and configurations. We are the technology provider of choice for enterprises, small businesses and government. We count municipal and federal agencies, leading Internet retailers, telecom providers, web hosting companies, ISPs and more as part of our customer base. Through them, our global 4
distribution channel provides Internet services to more than 30 million end users worldwide. As a result, we understand the importance of having a reliable, available network, and recognize that any underperformance in a PPP will reflect poorly on UC2B. We maintain extensive software/network engineering and customer service operations. We operate a 24x7 network operations center, and have more than 150 staff dedicated to software/network engineering and customer support. Staffing levels can be easily scaled to meet new demand using an existing recruiting and training framework we have built within our organization. Proposed buildout schedule: timelines and key milestones Our initial timelines and targets are as follows:
Our general timelines are as follows: ● July/August 2016: Establish a local presence in Holly Springs. We have already hired a City Manager, Installation Manager (both of whom are Town residents), and are in the process of acquiring a warehouse facility and local office in the area. Following this, we will begin hiring our installation teams, which we also expect will be local residents. ● July/August 2016: Begin design and engineering for initial phases. This includes development of fiber engineering and construction plans, and submitting these to the Town for feedback and approval. Our planned rollout schedule is to begin construction in the following areas this year, covering approximately 4,000 serviceable addresses: ○ August 2016: Holly Glen / Holly Pointe / Braxton Village ○ October 2016: Windcrest / Oakhall / Windward Pointe 5
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November 2016: 12 Oaks / Arbor Commons / Arbor Creek
We expect our first customers would go “live” in October. Following this rollout, we will continue into the next neighborhoods in the New Year. While the precise order is still to be determined, we expect we will continue to build further east. Continue local marketing efforts through 2016 and 2017: we have already engaged in a number of local marketing efforts to generate interest in fiber Internet in the area, and the results have been extremely positive. These have included: ○ Supporting the Holly Springs Salamanders, both through individual game sponsorships and ad purchase; ○ Purchasing ads in local publications, including Suburban Living; ○ Sponsoring local events, including the Holly Springs Farmers Market, Arts Festival and Holly Fest; ○ Running commercials ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81YpAHAxDA ) in local venues, including movie theatres; ○ Running radio ads in the Raleigh Durham market; ○ Hosting local community meetings, such as our recent one in June 2016.
We expect to continue similar efforts throughout the year. Fiber usage As part of our plans to deploy an allfiber network throughout Holly Springs, we seek to make use of some of the Town’s excess dark fiber capacity at the following proposed rates, for 20 year dark fiber IRUs: ● 12 47 fibers at $500/fiber/mile ● 48 95 fibers at $300/fiber/mile ● 96 143 fibers at $200/fiber/mile ● 144+ fibers at $180/fiber/mile Conclusion Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, please contact: Adam Eisner Vice President of Networks
[email protected] +1(416) 5350123 x 1282 6
