Broadband Needs Assessment & Planning Study, Summaries of Local Area Network (LAN)

Download Broadband Needs Assessment & Planning Study and more Summaries Local Area Network (LAN) in PDF only on Docsity! City of Columbia iwi 701 East Broadway, Columbia, Missouri 65201 » < Agenda Item Number: REP_76—14 Department Source: Water & Light To: City Council From: City Manager & Staff Council Meeting Date: August 18, 2014 Re: Broadband Planning Study Documents Included With This Agenda Item Council memo Supporting documentation includes: Broadband Needs Assessment & Planning Study Executive Summary In August of 2013 the City of Columbia contracted for consulting services with Magellan Advisors to produce a Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study. In May of 2014 Magellan presented their preliminary findings at a Pre-Council work session. In June of 2014 Magellan submitted their final report for acceptance. Based on the recommendations from this report, a Lit Network Open- Access model appears to be the most appropriate use of the City’s fiber network. Their recommended next step would be the development of a detailed Broadband Business Plan using the City’s fiber optic network to develop a Lit Network Open-Access community telecommunication infrastructure. Discussion Over the past two years Water & Light has been engaged in a process to develop strategies for community telecommunication infrastructure. In recognition that a high speed community broadband deployment is critical to future economic and civic growth, Water & Light has partnered with Regional Economic Development Inc. (RED!) and contracted with a consultant to develop strategies for this deployment. In support of this the City has contracted with Magellan to define this community plan. in the development of this study, Magellan met with City departments, City Council members, Boone County Staff, healthcare organizations, educational institutions and local businesses. These meetings were to gain understanding of the current telecommunications landscape, thoroughly review current service levels and pricing and assess the challenges faced by operating in Columbia. Magellan has presented their final report from this planning effort. Based on the recommendations from this report, a Lit Network Open-Access model appears to be the most appropriate use of the City’s fiber network. Their recommended next step would be the development of a detailed Broadband Business Plan using the City’s fiber optic network to develop a Lit Network Open-Access community telecommunication infrastructure. Staff's recommendation to Council is acceptance of this Broadband Planning Study and support for the development of a Broadband Business Plan based on this study. City of Columbia iW] 701 East Broadway, Columbia, Missouri 65201 > < Fiscal impact Short-Term Impact: Development of a Broadband Business Plan Long-Term Impact: Based on results from Broadband Business Plan Vision, Strategic & Comprehensive Plan Impact Vision Impact; Community Facilities and Services, Economic Development Strategic Plan Impact: Infrastructure Comprehensive Plan Impact: Infrastructure Suggested Council Action Staff's recommendation to Council is acceptance of this Broadband Planning Study and support for the development of a Broadband Business Plan based on this study. Legislative History 4 Cit¥ Manager Approved  Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 2 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 3 2. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 3. Project Background ...................................................................................................... 6 4. Current Broadband Environment ............................................................................. 9 Local Broadband Initiatives and Broadband Technology Overview ..................... 10 White Spaces ..................................................................................................................... 13 Columbia’s Broadband Network Inventory................................................................. 14 Missouri Policy Environment .......................................................................................... 18 5. Broadband Needs Assessment ............................................................................... 21 Defining High-speed Broadband in Context .............................................................. 21 Community Survey Responses ...................................................................................... 22 Stakeholder Interviews, Issues, Opportunities, and Analysis ................................. 26 Columbia Economic Development ............................................................................... 32 6. Key Broadband Issues Facing Columbia ................................................................ 37 7. Recommendations on Potential Strategies ........................................................... 39 Public Policy Recommendations ................................................................................... 40 Education and Adoption Programs to Increase Demand ....................................... 41 Record Keeping and Information Sharing .................................................................. 41 Development of a Community Broadband Network ................................................ 41 Building Support for Columbia’s Community Broadband Network ...................... 42 Case Studies........................................................................................................................43 8. Community Broadband Expansion ......................................................................... 45 Expanding the CW&L Network for Community Broadband ................................... 45 Services ............................................................................................................................... 49 Operations ......................................................................................................................... 50 Downtown Core Design .................................................................................................. 50 Downtown Core Cost Estimates .................................................................................... 53 Downtown Core FTTP Business Case .......................................................................... 53 Market Penetration .......................................................................................................... 54 Service & Installation Revenues .................................................................................... 56 Operating Costs ................................................................................................................ 58 Benefits to the Community ............................................................................................ 58 Additional Community Broadband Expansion .......................................................... 59 9. Next Steps ..................................................................................................................... 60 Implementing Public Policy Tools ................................................................................. 61 Development of Columbia Broadband Business Plan..............................................61 10. Appendix A - Glossary ................................................................................................ 62 11. Appendix B - Survey Question Charts .................................................................... 69 12. Appendix C - Broadband Infrastructure Standards for Outside Plant Facilities ............................................................................................... 81 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 3 1. Executive Summary As more of our lives transition to the digital world, access to the Internet and its multitude of applications becomes increasingly more important. Where Internet access was once just a complement to our physical lives, the virtual world of the Internet has become a crucial part of what we do every day. Online applications for business, health, education, security, and entertainment have all become integrated into our daily lives. These applications and new ones continue to grow at an amazing pace. A high-speed, reliable broadband infrastructure is required for these applications and future ones to function properly. Broadband is indeed the highway of the electronic world. The City of Columbia has recognized that next-generation broadband infrastructure is required to attract and retain the tech-savvy residents and businesses that will drive civic and economic growth. The City of Columbia’s understanding of the importance of next-generation broadband has developed and advanced with its recent participation along with the University of Missouri in the Google Fiber solicitation and the “GigU” project. The City of Columbia, and The University of Missouri (“MU”) have commissioned this Broadband Planning Study to understand the options they have in improving current and future broadband services within the community. With a particular focus on Columbia Water & Light’s (“CW&L’s”) fiber-optic network, this Study examines potential opportunities for the City of Columbia to expand use of this network to foster next- generation broadband services for the residents, businesses and community anchor institutions (“CAI”)1 in Columbia. The Study conducted a comprehensive broadband needs assessment across all stakeholders to determine how the community utilized broadband currently and planned to in the future. In response to these needs, the Study assessed how stakeholders’ broadband needs were currently being met by broadband providers and identified the key issues that impacted their ability to use the Internet. It also focused on how future needs would or would not be met as broadband speeds continued to increase from new applications used by stakeholders. The Study found that although Columbia has a significant amount of broadband providers in the area, segments of Columbia’s business community and community anchors are not receiving the services they need for their organizations due to either a lack of availability or prohibitively high costs. Businesses are facing issues receiving the broadband services they need to become more efficient, productive, and competitive, limiting their overall sustainability and growth in Columbia. Economic development has 1 CAIs are generally education, healthcare, government and public safety organizations along with non-profit organizations supporting the community. See full definition in Appendix A: Glossary. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 4 difficulty retaining business and attracting new business to the area due to a lack of affordable, available broadband. Community anchors including schools, MU, hospitals and support organizations have significant plans for growth which require high-speed, reliable broadband; they are questioning how they will be able to implement these programs without this type of broadband. Based on this analysis, the Study evaluates how CW&L’s fiber-optic network could be utilized to provide a solution to these broadband issues. CW&L’s network already provides significant benefits to the community, connecting the City of Columbia, Columbia schools, MU, hospitals, and businesses to high-speed broadband. After evaluation of the network’s capabilities, the Study found that the City has a significant opportunity to expand the network to serve stakeholders throughout the community. Focused first on local businesses and community anchors in the Downtown Core, the network has the capabilities to provide next-generation broadband services at lower rates than customers are currently paying today. The cost of this type of expansion to serve business and community anchors in the Downtown Core is estimated between $2.5 million and $3.5 million with a payback period of 8 – 9 years, conservatively. The City of Columbia can likely reduce these upfront capital costs through careful value engineering and a strategic approach to deployment. The benefits would be significant to Columbia, including: • Reducing the costs of doing business in Columbia by positively influencing the prices business pay for broadband services. • Bringing affordable next-generation broadband services to Columbia that rival the fastest, most advanced broadband networks. • Promote and market Columbia as a Gigabit Community able to deliver cost- effective 1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit services to businesses, schools, hospitals, and other anchors throughout Columbia enhancing the City of Columbia’s economic development strategy. • Leverage an existing City public asset for a new purpose and drive additional value for the community by building a broadband utility. • Support long-term capabilities for the City of Columbia and its utilities by providing a foundation for integration of further functionalities and other utility development. Based on the findings of this Study, Magellan Advisors recommends that the City of Columbia begin development of a Columbia Broadband Business Plan that will lay out the key strategies to implement, manage, and finance the network. In addition, Magellan recommends the City take steps to begin implementation of cost-effective public policy tools that will accelerate the deployment of next-generation broadband throughout the community. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 7 Using stakeholder meetings and other tools and data, Magellan conducted a comprehensive market analysis that evaluated the current broadband environment in Columbia and documented the services, pricing, providers, and availability within Columbia. From this assessment an analysis was conducted comparing the current availability and pricing for services against the needs of the community stakeholders. This analysis evaluated the gaps in relation to availability and affordability of broadband services in Columbia. Based on the gaps that were identified, community strategies were developed that would aid in bridging these gaps. These community strategies focused on initiatives that the City of Columbia could undertake to positively influence the affordability, availability, and expansion of broadband services within Columbia. The Planning Study’s objective is to provide the information and recommendations to the City that will allow them to make informed decisions on what broadband strategies to pursue for their community, and importantly, what roles the public organizations should play and what commitments should they make. Magellan’s recommendations range from low-cost strategies such as implementing broadband-friendly public policy and adoption programs to active investment strategies to build broadband infrastructure in partnership with private service providers. It is for the City of Columbia to decide what strategies are most appropriate based on the long-term objectives of the communities they serve. The following three strategy elements were developed: • Public-policy strategies detailed specific measures that the City could undertake in conjunction with local service providers to reduce the cost of broadband infrastructure in Columbia and to provide new options to expand it. • Information and adoption strategies provided for educational and data sharing programs that the City could develop to raise awareness of the available broadband services in Columbia. • Public-investment strategies detailed potential public funding mechanisms that would allow for the expansion of new broadband infrastructure in the region in cooperation with local service providers using public/private partnerships. The community strategies are discussed in detail and include actionable initiatives that have been identified for the City of Columbia to consider. These initiatives are intended to promote the development of high-speed broadband in Columbia over a 10-year period. The premise of these strategies is that public organizations and private service providers each have tools at their disposal to mutually expand broadband services in the region. Cooperation between public organizations and these private providers has Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 8 been proven to reduce the cost of local broadband and hasten its expansion in communities across the country. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 9 4. Current Broadband Environment Realizing the importance of broadband to the development of our nation, the Federal government has taken a significant role in creating public policy and funding programs to accelerate the development of broadband and enhance existing infrastructure. Then- Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, stated: “Broadband is the indispensable infrastructure of the digital age – the 21st Century equivalent of what canals, railroads, highways, the telephone, and electricity were for previous generations.” 4 In early 2009, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure that every American has “access to broadband capability.” Congress also required this plan to include a detailed strategy for achieving affordability and maximize the use of broadband to advance “consumer welfare, civic participation, public safety and homeland security, community development, health care delivery, energy independence and efficiency, education, employee training, private sector investment, entrepreneurial activity, job creation and economic growth, and other national purposes.” 5 The following goals set out in the National Broadband Plan apply specifically to expansion of these critical services in communities across the country. Goal Number 1: At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 Megabits per second, by 2020. Goal Number 2: The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation. Goal Number 3: Every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose. Goal Number 4: Every American community should have affordable access to at least 1 Gigabit per second broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings, by 2020. 4 “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission: The National Broadband Plan” Hearing before the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. United States Senate. March 25, 2010 5 “National Broadband Plan” http://www.broadband.gov/plan/executive-summary/. Accessed September 10, 2013. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 12 The majority of America’s broadband infrastructure still utilizes copper-based media to transmit information from a user to the Internet (the “last mile” or “local loop”); this media includes twisted-pair copper telephone and coaxial cable television lines. Most of this infrastructure was installed years ago but in many areas of the country, it is still being installed in new communities today. As time has progressed, broadband providers have continued to upgrade equipment in their networks to make these lines faster and more reliable, however; several fundamental issues exist with underlying copper infrastructure: 1. Broadband signals degrade significantly as distances increase in copper-based networks. 2. Broadband signals are susceptible to electrical interference and signal degradation in copper-based networks, particularly as they depreciate. 3. Copper-based networks delivering broadband services generally utilize shared bandwidth among pools of users which results in an uneven distribution of speed to these users. The limitations of local copper-based networks are overcome by deployment of fiber- optic infrastructure in local communities. The old standard of copper in local broadband networks is transitioning to fiber-optic slowly. Costs for deployment of fiber-optic infrastructure are high, particularly in areas where no fiber-optic infrastructure exists. Providers understand that fiber-optic broadband provides the only long-term solution to the ever-growing bandwidth needs of homes, businesses, and community anchors. Fiber-optic broadband connectivity is considerably different than its copper-based predecessor. • Fiber-optic technology converts broadband data signals to light and sends the light through transparent glass fibers about the diameter of a human hair. Fiber transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps. • Actual speeds are always dependent on the services provisioned by the service provider who operates the system however, speeds generally range from 10Mbps to 100Gbps. • Telecommunications providers sometimes offer fiber broadband in limited areas and have announced plans to expand their fiber networks and offer bundled voice, Internet access, and video services. • Variations of the technology run the fiber all the way to the customer’s home or business, to the curb outside, or to a location somewhere between the provider’s facilities and the customer. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 13 White Spaces Spectrum is assigned to TV broadcasters under FCC rules and policies. TV broadcasts previously used analog wave transmission over this FCC-assigned spectrum until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated use of digital transmission – Digital TV – by full power TV stations by June 13, 2009. Under either TV broadcast technology, “white spaces” exist between TV channels and also via unused channels in each geographic area, or where the TV spectrum is not being used by licensed services. Technology developments allow the use of these “white spaces” without interfering with TV broadcasts or other licensed uses of the spectrum. In particular, the nature of digital communication (transmission of digital on/off pulses) frees up spectrum creating additional white spaces by reducing the need for large spectrum buffers that were necessary to protect analog waveforms from other transmissions as well as realizing spectral efficiencies. The FCC has undergone a lengthy and contentious process to establish rules that permit use of white spaces on an unlicensed basis. White spaces are considered to be “prime real estate” since they have, “…excellent propagation characteristics that allow signals to reach farther and penetrate walls and other structures. Access to this spectrum could enable more powerful public Internet connections or super Wi-Fi hot spots, with extended range, fewer dead spots, and improved individual speeds as a Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 14 result of reduced congestion on existing networks. The potential uses of this spectrum are limited only by the imagination.” 6 Earlier releases of unlicensed spectrum yielded such wireless marvels as remote controls, keyless entry, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth to name a few. Broadband using white spaces is expected to be particularly valuable in providing high speed broadband access in rural areas by extending the service range of wireless Internet service providers (WISPs). While white spaces for broadband has shown great promise, it has also suffered from the “chicken or egg” problem; demand is not clear so manufacturers are not devoting resources to lower equipment costs and without lower costs, demand will not be sufficient to drive this innovation. In July 2013, West Virginia University began network implementation in partnership with AIR.U to provide free public Wi-Fi access for students and faculty on its tram system transporting 15,000 riders daily as well as elsewhere on campus.7 More recently, one of the AIR.U co-founders, Declaration Networks Group, announced a “Quick Start Network Program” available to AIR.U member institutions.8 This would be a primary means for the City of Columbia in concert with one of Columbia’s higher education institutions to further explore viability of white spaces for broadband access in rural and underserved/low income areas in the City. Columbia’s Broadband Network Inventory It is important to assess the degree to which high-speed broadband infrastructure has been deployed in Columbia to understand where this Planning Study can have the most impact for the community and minimize duplication of potential broadband overbuild. This study has identified the existence of the necessary facilities, networks, and backhaul capacity to enable expansion of high-speed broadband in Columbia. Providers have the necessary capabilities, infrastructure, and service platforms to deploy and manage services within the region and have done so in certain areas. Fiber-optic broadband services are available in some of the City’s corridors and through multiple providers. Outside of the City proper this infrastructure is sparse and generally follows the highways that interconnect Columbia to neighboring communities. In many cases this fiber-optic infrastructure may not be available to provide services directly because of its use as backhaul to interconnect communities in the Columbia area and to connect the region to long-haul networks that connect to Internet points of presence in the Midwest. 6 Second Memorandum Opinion and Order, Federal Communications Commission, ET Docket Nos. 02-380 and 04-186, Released September 23, 2010, at page 2. 7 http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2013/07/09/nation-s-first-campus-super-wi-fi-network-launches-at-west-virginia-university 8 http://www.airu.net/press-release-quickstart/ Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 17 (competitive local exchange carrier) model and has now passed many homes in Columbia with a mix of leased and owned facilities including fiber strands leased from Columbia Water & Light and other facilities leased from CenturyLink. Public Broadband Inventory The Home Rule Charter of the City of Columbia includes rate, finance and other provisions associated with operation of Columbia Water and Light to provide utility services to Columbia residents. As is common with municipal electric utilities and electric utilities generally, CW&L has deployed fiber-optic facilities for operational reasons. CW&L had originally used copper twisted pair for station to station communications however, this became unreliable. Fiber-optic facilities were installed to replace copper facilities and provide the necessary reliability. Since the fiber facilities originally are placed for CW&L operational reasons, the fiber routing runs through CW&L substations. As the fiber-optic facilities were deployed it became apparent other parties would pay for installation in return for deployed strands. CW&L now operates a SONET ring among its substations using the fiber facilities and leases remaining strands to others as available while prioritizing for city/county government and school use. CW&L intends to add connectivity for various additional locations associated with water services. Since the major costs of fiber-optic deployment are the placement costs (i.e., opening streets followed by trenching, conduit, ground restoration, etc.) CW&L has followed the common practice of installing a number of fiber strands (24 -72) on each route. The fiber is currently single mode. CW&L is also installing 3 inch conduit on a forward looking basis any time the electric department digs to open ground for facilities. CW&L allows others to use individual strands where available on a prioritized basis. The fiber is first reserved/placed for CW&L use, then for city use, schools, and other government. CW&L is an approved provider under the federal “E-rate” program and supports Internet services to 34 schools using two fiber loops. There are approximately 60 city sites on the CW&L fiber network on an extended star topology. CW&L notes a need to modify the network architecture to a ring-based topology. Other entities are allowed to use the CW&L fiber pursuant to Master Fiber Agreements with an initial five year term and annual renewals. Most agreements are in annual renewal now. The agreements are all for lease of “dark” fiber11, and no services or individualized capacity is provided. CW&L has agreements with 12 entities and is not signing any more agreements due to bottlenecks (for example, downtown to the west, and downtown to the south) and lack of fiber in certain locations. It is increasingly difficult for these 12 entities to obtain additional fiber due to capacity constraints. These 11 Dark Fiber or unlit fiber is an unused optical fiber available for use in fiber-optic communication. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 18 constraints as experienced by others are affected by CW&L’s mission and capital budget. CW&L has a separate budget for fiber/telecommunications. The fiber/telecommunications section of CW&L has a capital budget of $100,000 for fiber construction. While CW&L has agreements with 12 entities, it should be noted that the benefit of the fiber facilities extends beyond just those 12 entities. For example, CW&L fiber leased by the University of Missouri is used to support connectivity to the Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet) for institutions located in Columbia, such as Stephens College and Daniel Boone Public Library. Pricing for lease of fiber strands was established some time ago at $250 per month for a point to point fiber strand (regardless of distance), and $3847 per month for a fiber loop (also regardless of distance). The 12 entities currently utilizing CW&L fiber pursuant to agreement are: Entity Name Number of Circuits Annual Revenue Sho-Me Technologies 41 $ 252,492.00 City of Columbia 40 $ 123,000.00 University of Missouri 17 $ 94,164.00 Socket Telecom 14 $ 85,164.00 Missouri Network Alliance 12 $ 67,164.00 Columbia Public Schools 6 $ 104,328.00 Boone Hospital 2 $ 46,164.00 Boone County 2 $ 46,164.00 Columbia College 2 $ 6,000.00 Charter Communications 1 $ 3,000.00 ISG 1 $ 46,164.00 Missouri Public Utility Alliance 1 $ 3,000.00 $ 876,804.00 Missouri Policy Environment Magellan Advisors has reviewed the regulatory and policy environment in Missouri and in the City of Columbia pertaining to municipal broadband.12 Information was gained from stakeholder interviews, management staff at the City of Columbia and Columbia Water and Light, contacts with the Missouri Public Service Commission (“PSC”) staff, the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA), and the Missouri Municipal League, as well as through Magellan’s own research and knowledge base. Broadband facilities and service are generally not regulated at the federal (Federal Communications Commission) or state (Missouri Public Service Commission) levels. 12 This discussion and analysis does not constitute a legal opinion and should not be construed as such. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 19 We conclude there are no direct regulatory impediments in Missouri to the provision of an open access wholesale municipal broadband platform. Furthermore, no laws or policies have been identified which would impede or impair additional development of fiber-optic facilities by the City of Columbia to expand availability of high speed broadband services via an open access wholesale municipal platform. The most topical statute is Chapter 392, Section 410 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.13 It arose due to controversy over interest in retail provision of voice (and other) telecommunications services by municipalities. Voice telecommunications services were regulated by the Missouri PSC at the time (although regulation has since changed). Section 392.410.7 Mo. Revised Statutes provides: No political subdivision of this state shall provide or offer for sale, either to the public or to a telecommunications provider, a telecommunications service or telecommunications facility used to provide a telecommunications service for which a certificate of service authority is required pursuant to this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict a political subdivision from allowing the nondiscriminatory use of its rights-of-way including its poles, conduits, ducts and similar support structures by telecommunications providers or from providing to telecommunications providers, within the geographic area in which it lawfully operates as a municipal utility, telecommunications services or telecommunications facilities on a nondiscriminatory, competitively neutral basis, and at a price which covers cost, including imputed costs that the political subdivision would incur if it were a for-profit business. Nothing in this subsection shall restrict a political subdivision from providing telecommunications services or facilities: 1) For its own use; 2) For 911, E-911 or other emergency services; 3) For medical or educational purposes; 4) To students by an educational institution; or 5) Internet-type services The impact of this statute is to prohibit a “political subdivision” from providing voice telecommunications of the type that require “certificate of service authority” from the PSC, however; the provision of “Internet-type services” and telecommunications for medical, educational, public safety, and internal uses is clearly enabled. Furthermore, and equally as important, the statute provides: 13 Chapter 392 sets out statutes which govern the PSC’s regulation of telecommunications in Missouri. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 22 Magellan interviewed and discussed high speed broadband in Columbia with all identified service providers. Maps of service provider infrastructure were requested for this Study to gain an understanding from each of Columbia’s current providers what infrastructure was available in the area. Columbia Water and Light and Sho-Me Technologies provided detailed maps illustrating their broadband fiber-optic facilities in the Columbia area. Columbia falls into a category of mid-sized cities that are in between the rural, underserved communities, and those that are larger and well served. Outside of the City proper, Boone County quickly becomes very rural and suffers from common broadband access issues found in rural communities. The broadband services that businesses utilize are not always dependent on company size but as a general rule, small and medium businesses utilize cable and DSL services while large businesses utilize fiber- based broadband services. Community anchors are served similarly depending on their size and geographic location. Anchors such as schools, hospitals, City of Columbia, and County facilities utilize fiber-optic broadband services while anchors in Boone County lack this access and generally utilize cable, DSL, and T1 services. Community Survey Responses Magellan Advisors and REDI conducted an on-line survey of businesses regarding broadband uses and needs. Please see Appendix B for charts which depict survey results for each question. 106 businesses took the time to respond to the survey and these responses are greatly appreciated and beneficial to broadband planning for the Columbia community. Out of 106 businesses surveyed, 70% were small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The top four sectors by NAICS code were Professional Scientific & Technical Services, Finance and Insurance, Real Estate, and Healthcare. The vast majority of businesses surveyed were within Columbia’s city limits. Businesses reported that Internet services were important to their operations and the majority reported that interruptions in their Internet services were detrimental to their businesses. 45% of businesses reported that their Internet services were not currently meeting their needs due to inadequate speed or insufficient reliability. Of that percentage, 32% had not upgraded because services were not available and 43% had not upgraded because the price was too high. Further details from the survey of businesses include: • More than half of respondents (58%) were small businesses with 25 or fewer employees. Approximately one third (30%) were large businesses with over 50 employees. • Finance and Insurance, real estate, professional, scientific and technical services, and health care were the top four industries represented in the survey. • Businesses use the Internet in a variety of important ways: Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 23 o 99%: Email and general browsing o 84%: Social Media, i.e., Facebook and Twitter o 81%: Research and Information o 78%: Business applications such as accounting and payroll o 74%: banking and financial o 61%: data backup o 59%: file sharing and collaboration o 51%: credit card processing o 46%: web hosting o 42%: video and/or television, video conferencing o 40%: telephone services such as Skype or Vonage o 37%: security monitoring o 36%: design • Other uses of the Internet include uploading large video files multiple times per day, billing services, streaming video, record and test transfers, and ERM. • Businesses currently not using the Internet for these functions have significant interest in future use particularly in the areas of data backup services, social media applications, banking and financial, security monitoring, and research and information. • Almost three quarters of businesses have experienced moderate, severe, or total disruption of their business from Internet problems with reliability and speed. • 44% of businesses state current Internet services are insufficient for their business needs, and a further 16% are not sure that current Internet services are sufficient. Reasons current Internet services are not sufficient include: o 54%: not fast enough o 33%: unreliable o 10%: lack of options o All additional explanatory responses are: “we struggle with getting fast enough Internet and also the overall affordability”; “too many outages”; “multiple locations across the state”; “also unreliable”; and “need to expand bandwidth”. • Lesser reasons that businesses have not upgraded service to remedy these insufficiencies include lack of technical skills (7%), and lack of knowledge of options (2%). o All additional explanatory responses are:
“we have looked at ALL available carriers and they are similar in unreliability factors”
“no provider can deliver adequate bandwidth. We’ve tried them ALL.”
“it’s the best available for where I am located.”
“Speeds are too low, price is too high. Need fiber.”
“We are actively seeking alternative solutions.” Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 24
“Too high and no reasonable option that also provides a landline.”
“this is a corporate decision, not local.”
“We have the highest Internet speed.”
“We contract with two providers because they are both so unreliable so we can remain live.”
“limited services”
“Tied to corporate system”
“I am told I have the best they have to offer”
“not sure who would really do any better. Conflicting info”
“Just need to get it done.”
“I think we have the best available in Columbia at this time” • 99% of businesses rank Reliability as “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”. • 91% of businesses rank Speed as “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”. • 76% of businesses rank Customer Service as “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”. • 55% of businesses rank Price as “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”. • 65% of businesses state it is “Very Important” or “Extremely Important” to the long term success and growth of the business to have multiple choices of broadband providers, offering a wide range of pricing options and features. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 27 Issues and Opportunities Stakeholder interviews combined with Magellan’s experience and research indicate a number of current network issues and opportunities, as follows: • There is significant need for data transport capability between Columbia and Jefferson City, for such functions as mirrored systems, backup, and recovery. Currently transport pricing for this capacity is perceived to be very costly. Enabling cost-effective data transport capability between Jefferson City and Columbia is viewed in the community as “a great cooperative project”. • The current lack of redundancy is viewed by many as a primary issue and problem. “If something happens to Cherry Street (CenturyLink’s downtown central office), it’s a big problem.” “Fiber cuts have taken service down for whole days.” • It is noted that “the entire network slows down when students arrive on campus at University of Missouri. • Security concerns emerge as being very serious. “Columbia is not immune from attacks.” “It is happening all the time now, traffic from Russia trying to ping and get into businesses, run scripts against FTP, etc.” Small companies do not have the staff or expertise to stay on top of security and intrusion attempts. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment Columbia Public Schools Higher Education and Research Networking Tech Businesses Healthcare Entities Boone County City of Columbia Anchor Businesses Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 28 Columbia’s broadband plan should consider and include resourcing and support for intrusion detection and prevention. • City fiber is not available to everyone and it is generally unavailable at this time. • If the city expands its fiber network, it has to be done at a carrier class level. “It cannot be operated as a city service.” • Many note that there is not a good, cost effective, data hotel in Columbia and believe this should be remedied. • Some have noted it would be beneficial to expand affordable and cost effective Wi-Fi. Some perceive this as a good use of City of Columbia fiber for backhaul. • Some private telecommunications providers are interested in dark fiber but only if it can be bought or swapped to enable placement of electronics. • Providers are very interested in building access—conduit and building entrance. Currently this is a significant barrier especially downtown. • Some providers are very interested in building out to fill in current network gaps for the city. • Reliability of service over CW&L fiber is a concern to some due to perception CW&L would take down fiber circuits as necessary when restoring electric service. • Some perceive a need for standby/backup facility that could be paid for on a utilization basis rather than paying for dedicated facilities on a monthly basis. • Currently it appears that charges for rights of way and pole attachments for CW&L use are internal. There is a perceived need that these charges be made explicit. Tech-Oriented Businesses Columbia’s tech-orientation and big data focus are an important forward-looking aspect of high-speed broadband for the business community. These organizations have significant needs for high-speed, reliable bandwidth options, which can generally only be provided through fiber-optic connectivity. To support and promote Columbia’s focus on the big data sector, it is critical that the region has affordable, available fiber-optic broadband to meet the needs of current businesses and new startups entering the market. Businesses and business applications increasingly are predicated on connectivity, transactional data delivery, large files, and report rendering in real time. Redundancy and continuity are very important in many businesses. Certain businesses would like to rely more on cloud services and video conferencing is of growing importance for many businesses. For some businesses cloud delivery is crucial. Business organizations have data centers that are distributed both within Columbia and to locations outside of Columbia. Jefferson City is a primary “community of interest” from both a business and data networking standpoint. Businesses urge that a mid-Missouri Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 29 point of view be taken. Speed, cost, and reliability issues exist with current options between Columbia and Jefferson City. Affordability is a key component of high-speed broadband services for this sector as many of the businesses are small or are in the startup stage. They report an obstacle of affordability in bringing fiber-optic connectivity directly to their businesses. For example: From the outreach conducted with these businesses, they have communicated an urgent need for these services because the efficiency of their operations is directly tied to speed and reliability of their broadband services. Many of these businesses are currently utilizing either cable or DSL services and report intermittent issues with these services, and a lack of bandwidth available to grow. Stakeholders noted that connectivity in the downtown area is not consistently good. No buildings have direct access to fiber. Stakeholders consistently identified problems with speed/price, outages and limited or uneven availability of broadband service. These problems have risen to the CEO level – “when there are problems, you learn more about data communications” as one interviewee put it. More than one stakeholder interviewee noted that investments and data center operations are being moved out of Columbia due to reliability, performance, and redundancy issues. While personnel in other operations will remain in Columbia, data center platforms are moving out. “Latency and resiliency issues must be resolved— cannot live with backhaul”. Current “latency is only borderline acceptable for high end service”. This is aggravated by the current circumstance that the closest backbone connections are “a few hops away” and “Columbia is in the middle of nowhere from a network perspective”. Currently there is a significant cost for backhaul to Kansas City or St. Louis. Small Businesses Although small businesses do not utilize broadband in the same ways as tech-oriented and big data businesses, many of the applications they use every day are sensitive to the speed and reliability of their broadband services. This Study has captured trends that indicate that small businesses are using more and more bandwidth intensive applications in Columbia. The list below provides an overview from the survey of how these businesses are utilizing their broadband connections today. Lines highlighted in green represent those applications that are particularly sensitive to high-bandwidth and/or reliable broadband services. o 98%: Email and general browsing o 89%: Gathering online research and information o 86%: Online banking and financial o 86%: Social Media, i.e., Facebook and Twitter o 77%: Business applications such as accounting and payroll Columbia High-speed Broadband Planning Study – Executive Summary 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 32 Columbia Economic Development Accessible, affordable, and reliable broadband services are a key economic development tool to attract and retain businesses in Columbia. The question posed to the City of Columbia’s economic development organizations is the following: “Will Columbia’s broadband services keep pace with the growing needs of its businesses which compete in a global economy?” In many cases, bandwidth consumption outpaces the broadband speeds local businesses are able to purchase and upgrading is often times not an option due to the prices businesses are able to afford as well as other IT related factors. When these broadband services cannot “keep up” with business needs, businesses lose productivity and efficiency impacting their bottom line and making them less competitive with regions that have more widely deployed high-speed broadband services at more affordable prices. This will eventually result in a less competitive business market from an economic perspective. It also leads to retention issues as businesses that are not able to gain efficiencies with their existing broadband services will, in many cases, move operations to communities that have more availability of these services. In terms of attracting new business, a key focus of the City’s economic development organizations is to target companies that are location-independent and value Columbia’s quality of life in a vibrant community but outside of the “big cities.” Broadband is a fundamental utility asset that these types of businesses will require as they will rely on broadband to maintain connectedness to the electronic world. The majority of location- independent businesses rely on online services to maintain their daily operations, therefore; it is critical that Columbia is able to promote the availability and affordability of broadband services in its recruitment efforts. This can be a true differentiator for Columbia; through promotion of the community’s leading-edge broadband services, prospective businesses and site selectors can be assured that they can locate in Columbia and have robust access to the rest of the world. Available and affordable high speed broadband has also gone beyond being a differentiator to being a key part of the “minimum ante” for attracting and retaining desirable businesses and facilities. Healthcare Organizations Broadband is crucial for Columbia’s healthcare providers that are interested in meaningfully leveraging electronic health records, as many of the capabilities of health IT such as telehealth and electronic exchange of health care information, require high performance broadband capability. Columbia’s major hospitals currently maintain access to high-speed broadband services but outside of these organizations few healthcare providers maintain this type of access. Doctor’s offices, clinics, and imaging centers all have growing broadband needs to ensure they stay connected as their organizations transition to the digital healthcare environment. For these smaller organizations, high-speed broadband becomes a critical need to fulfill their mission and long-term success. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 33 There are a variety of trends and applications in the health care field that drive the need for broadband infrastructure. There will be medical instrumentation and measurement at home, faster than many people realize—which will require substantial bandwidth and “always on” connectivity. Medical record billing and coding often is done from home which requires substantial bandwidth. The University of Missouri’s University Hospital has engaged in partnership with Cerner to set standards for automation in health care. This is a joint nursing and engineering effort with Cerner under which the Hospital has outsourced its IT function to Cerner. Hospital employees are rebadged to Cerner. This is a bandwidth-intensive application that includes 40 data ports in every room, use of RFID, to create sensor-laden rooms that are monitored real time. For example, this will be used for aged care real time monitoring in combination with robotics to be predictive of a fall that hasn’t happened yet. This revolutionary advance will extend out to real time home health care and telemedicine which will require broadband infrastructure to operate properly. Both the University of Missouri Health System and Boone Hospital use CW&L fiber for connections among hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices. Boone Hospital uses CW&L fiber to connect the hospital with clinics, doctors’ offices, imaging, and operations/administrative functions. There are many doctors’ offices that would like better connection and would like to be on fiber for the capacity. Some are using Gigabit connections. Much better connectivity and bandwidth will be required in the near future for health care. Much is coming in the electronic health records area using cloud based systems. Educational Organizations Availability of broadband for education is critical for communities such as Columbia. As more curricula moves to an online format and programs such as distance learning and online testing are developed and implemented, high-bandwidth, reliable broadband services become a fundamental asset for schools, libraries, and universities. Columbia’s public schools currently maintain satisfactory broadband services over dedicated fiber- optic connectivity however; will these services scale over time to meet future demands of the community? As schools utilize more and more bandwidth, scalability of their broadband services will be critical to maintain connectivity with electronic resources, other educational institutions, and students, whether they are on campus or remote. This requires not only dedicated, high-bandwidth connectivity, but also symmetrical connectivity as much of the traffic transmitted by schools is upload rather than download. High-bandwidth upload traffic includes connections into online applications hosted by schools, distance learning programs, and online testing programs. Therefore, accessibility to symmetrical, Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 34 high-bandwidth broadband service will continue to be a critical need for Columbia’s schools. MU is a key community anchor in Columbia. On average the University of Missouri (MU) maintains 2.6 IP addresses live per student. This connectivity drives demand in nearby residences and apartments. Faculty and staff want the same level of connectivity. There are notable peaks such as during NCAA tournament games when 3000 students are streaming the game at any one time. MU sees a need for more widely available broadband to facilitate connections with businesses to interact with researchers and students. The business incubator has a minimal configuration but has to grow. There are many spin-offs from research efforts at MU. MOREnet is a membership-based non-profit organization that provides high speed Internet access to hospitals, higher education, libraries, and K-12 schools, on a statewide basis in collaboration with the University of Missouri. MOREnet is the backbone provider for the University of Missouri. Bandwidth demand is growing at 45% per year based on demands such as statewide testing. MOREnet is reestablishing a relationship with the state of Missouri. Stephens College uses MORENet over city fiber. Capacity utilization is doubling every year. Columbia Public Schools (CPS) is a very large school district with approximately 40 sites connected using CW&L fiber. CPS participates in the E-rate program, and obtains its Internet connectivity as a member of MOREnet. CPS has several needs and objectives. Looking forward, capacity for online testing will be a huge need. Best practices in education have identified bandwidth targets, for which CPS’s estimated need is as follows: • Internet Service Provider connection to provide 20Gbps capacity per 1000 students and staff for the 2017-18 school year; and, • Wide Area Network (internal CPS) to provide at least 10Gbps per 1000 students and staff for the 2017-18 school year. Consistent with best practices in education, CPS is targeting/reaching a 2:1 ratio of students to devices or better. Currently there are 10,000 computing devices of which 5500 are iPads. Provision of computing devices has highlighted the lack of adequate Internet connectivity in different areas, as there are students who have no Internet connectivity at home. Daniel Boone Public Library provides a fully functioning digital branch—anything that can be done in a building can be done digitally. Daniel Boone serves a large number of patrons with computers, Wi-Fi, and computer and technical classes. The Ashland and Fulton locations are both connected to the Internet and the bookmobiles are connected as well at each stop either by a pole with a DSL line (approximately 9 locations) or Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 37 6. Key Broadband Issues Facing Columbia Some organizations in Columbia are receiving next-generation, fiber-based service, including larger businesses, schools, hospitals, public safety, and local government organizations. These organizations are generally receiving high-speed, symmetrical fiber- optic services from local providers in the region. Speeds range from 100Mbps to 1Gbps and the networks in Columbia have the capability to support 10Gbps and greater speeds. Although these services are available in some areas, a key issue is the affordability of broadband services to organizations outside of the above stated customer segments and geographic areas. Large business and community anchor customers are generally able to afford these services. In some instances, Columbia schools receive federal subsidies (through the USAC Schools and Libraries Program) to support their procurement of high-speed broadband services. For smaller businesses across most sectors prices for high-speed fiber-based broadband services have been a barrier to utilization therefore, they generally utilize lower cost options including cable, DSL, and sometimes wireless services to meet their broadband needs. In some cases these services are sufficient while other businesses report issues with their services as evidenced by the survey data collected in this project. The issues of availability and affordability are intertwined. The definition of widespread availability is important to clarify in the context of this Planning Study. It is defined by the type of fiber-optic broadband infrastructure that is being deployed in the region. Providers in tier 2 and 3 American cities are beginning to deploy fiber-optic broadband services as part of their distribution strategies. Where once they deployed copper-based services such as DSL and cable, now they are deploying fiber-optic distribution technologies; enabling significant upgrades in speed and reliability in their service areas. Passive optical networks, including BPON, GPON, and EPON are slowly replacing traditional copper-based networks as providers overbuild this older infrastructure. This is within a larger trend of replacing circuit switched, time division multiplexed networks with Internet Protocol and Ethernet networks. Carrier decisions to build these networks are often tied to many factors that include carrier capital allocation and national business plans, construction costs, density, market size, demographics, and competition. The introduction of these new distribution technologies enables greater availability and affordability of high-speed broadband services by increasing the overall density of fiber-optic infrastructure in the local area, more cost effective deployment methods and specialized equipment designed to provide lower cost fiber connections. In Columbia, this Study found case-by-case deployment of fiber-optic distribution technologies being implemented by current providers but little if any in the nature of area wide deployment. The Study identified fiber-optic connections being provided to businesses using a more traditional point-to-point model, however; no widespread fiber- optic distribution technology was identified. The lack of these distribution technologies Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 38 limits the density of overall fiber-optic infrastructure in the region. GPON FTTH deployment is taking place in a few select locations in Columbia. There are a variety of reasons why providers are not making investments in this infrastructure. The capital cost of doing so is significant and it is important to remember that private service providers operate under corporate capital budgets and allocations and must be able to make a reasonable rate of return on their investments in these networks. This is balanced against the fact that providers must also continue to invest in their networks to remain competitive and ensure they meet their customers’ requirements, otherwise they will experience high rates of customer attrition as other providers offer substitute products and services. Another important issue is that Columbia does not appear to have a high availability/high reliability network; there has been notable downtime experience on existing private networks. The business community has a “huge” focus on redundancy. Layer 2 and Layer 3 diversity issues exist in Columbia. Consistently throughout the stakeholder interviews and business surveys, respondents indicate a great need for reliability. Under the current arrangement all ISPs have failure points. Stability of Internet connections is an important requirement since if transmission of a transaction is interrupted it has to start all over again. Notably, as capacity increases there is a greater sensitivity to fiber types. Service providers are interested in building access – conduit and building entrance facilities – especially downtown. There is a strong perception of disjointed services in the greater Columbia area. There are significant holes in broadband availability and one does not have to go very far outside the city to see high speed broadband options diminish dramatically. Although not a direct objective of the planning study, it has been learned that network security concerns are also emerging as a very serious issue. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 39 7. Recommendations on Potential Strategies There are many strategies that Columbia can utilize to promote the development of high-speed broadband services in its community. Magellan recommends that these strategies be developed with the support and coordination of Columbia’s local service providers who play a critical role in Columbia’s broadband future. These strategies fall into three categories: public policy tools, information and adoption programs, and public investment. To be successful, Columbia should take a multidimensional approach to broadband development utilizing a combination of these strategies to accelerate the availability, adoption, and investment in local broadband infrastructure. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 42 In addition, CW&L would expand its lit services into the downtown core and business and industrial parks throughout Columbia to provide a new source of fiber, which will be offered to Columbia businesses. Telecommunications providers would interconnect with the Columbia Community Broadband Network at a neutral meet point located in Columbia and would utilize the City’s open-access platform to deliver services to the community anchors and business customers that are connected to the network. Through the development of an open-access network, the City would introduce an optional source for fiber-based telecommunications services throughout Columbia. Businesses and anchors would receive highly available and redundant services at more affordable rates than are currently available in Columbia. Service providers would continue to contract with CW&L for capacity in the network, using Type II circuits instead of dark fiber strands. Finally, Columbia Water & Light would continue to drive innovation and support for the greater community through the development of a high-speed fiber- based community broadband network while increasing its revenue from the leased capacity on the network. The use of dark fiber in the current manner is an inefficient use of resources. Dark fiber leasing agreements should be terminated and users migrated to the lit platform allowing for the repurpose of the existing fiber segments. There may be an impact to existing customers who utilize the current CW&L dark fiber. Those who primarily use dark fiber for Ethernet connections to their facilities should be migrated to the lit platform, while those users deploying WDM technologies may need to continue to lease dark fiber. Columbia Water & Light could develop a new dark fiber lease rate as part of the CW&L broadband business plan if its decided to keep dark fiber as a service offering due to this customer consideration. Magellan recognizes that its recommendation for an open-access network will be welcomed by some service providers, while some incumbent service providers may view it as unnecessary. However, on balance as described in this Report, such a network is necessary to advance broadband in Columbia, and there is nothing that precludes any service provider from taking equal advantage of the open-access network – regardless of its status. Building Support for Columbia’s Community Broadband Network Columbia’s community broadband initiative will need to be built with grass roots support from its key stakeholders. Because this project impacts the entire community at some level, building support for the project should involve the major stakeholders who will receive benefit from the new technologies and services available. To begin this process, Magellan recommends that the City maintain a Broadband Working Group that will be tasked with carrying forward the objective of developing Columbia’s community broadband network. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 43 The Working Group should be relatively small and be composed of community and technology leaders in Columbia that understand the importance of broadband to the region’s long-term success. Magellan suggests a group with representatives from each major stakeholder. At minimum, Magellan recommends that the following organizations submit one representative to the Working Group: • City of Columbia • Boone County • Columbia Public Schools • University of Missouri, Columbia • REDI • One or Two Key Business Representatives • One Key Healthcare Representative The Working Group will take ownership of the Planning Study and depending on how the public organizations’ decide to move forward, the Working Group will carry out the recommendations and next steps; first of which will be the creation of a Broadband Business Plan for CW&L. As this work progresses, the Working Group will help guide the development of the business plan with external resources to ensure the Broadband Business Plan is aligned with each stakeholder’s needs and those of the greater community. The Business Plan will be developed specifically for CW&L since it is the lead entity with ownership of the fiber-optic network, however; stakeholder engagement will be important to ensure the broadband utility will serve the needs of the community. Case Studies What Other Communities Have Built These Networks? A significant number of communities across the country have built community broadband networks to provide reliable, high-capacity fiber infrastructure to their stakeholders. There are over 1,000 similar networks across all States, including California. Some of these include: City of Palo Alto, CA In 1996, Palo Alto built a 33-mile optical fiber ring routed within the City to enable better Internet connections. Since then, we have been licensing use of this fiber to businesses. For the past decade, this activity has shown substantial positive cash flow and is currently making in excess of $2 million a year for the city. We now have that money in the bank earmarked for more fiber investments." Santa Cruz County, CA The Santa Cruz County board of supervisors in November 2013 approved an eight- month timeline to overhaul its broadband infrastructure plans and regulations. Specific areas of focus include permitting fee reductions and a proposed “dig once” ordinance that would make it easier to install new fiber optic cables during other work on area roads or utilities lanes. “The County will continue a focus on broadband infrastructure throughout the county to enable businesses to function in the digital era, and students Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 44 and households to have high quality access to information and communication. The County will work with industry providers to develop a Broadband Master Plan in order to identify focus areas within the county that will be most suitable for gigabyte services, particularly as the Sunesys backbone line is constructed during 2014 and 2015. The County will work with service (last mile) providers to ensure that these focus areas are deemed a priority, in order to support streaming requirements, product development, job creation and online selling capability.” City of Palm Coast, FL In 2006, the Palm Coast City Council approved a 5-Year fiber-optic deployment project funded at $500,000 annually for a total investment of $2.5 million. The network was developed to support growing municipal technology needs across all public organizations in the area, including city, county, public safety and education. It was also planned to support key initiatives such as emergency operations, traffic signalization, collaboration and video monitoring. The City utilized a phased approach to build its network using cost reducing opportunities to invest in new fiber-optic infrastructure. As each phase was constructed, the City connected its own facilities and coordinated with other public organizations to connect them; incrementally reducing costs for all organizations connected to the broadband network. Showing a reasonable payback from each stage of investment allowed the City to continue to fund future expansion of the network. Through deployment of this network, the City has realized a savings of nearly $1 million since 2007 and projects further annual operating savings of $350,000 annually. In addition to these savings, the City’s network provides valuable new capabilities that enhance its mission of serving the residents and businesses of the community. Seminole County, FL Over the last 15 years, Seminole County, FL has developed its own fiber-optic network to serve the broadband needs of its municipal, public safety, education and utility needs. The 450-mile fiber network has connected 26 fire stations, 58 county buildings, 44 schools, 4 SCC campus, 41 city buildings and 17 water treatment plants to the fiber network and maintains and repairs over 375 traffic signals, 148 school flashers at 73 locations, 46 beacons and flashers and 29 VMS (variable message signs). The network saves taxpayers in the County millions of dollars a year and provides a significant backbone of high-speed broadband services to serve nearly all of Seminole’s community functions. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 47 neighborhoods in the future). This equipment would connect back to a centralized colocation facility or data center where service providers would interconnect with the City’s network. Several data centers are currently available in Columbia that could accommodate these needs. Selection of the data center should be based on the location where the majority of service providers currently connect. This will enable the greatest number of service providers to interconnect with the City of Columbia’s network at the lowest cost to both the service providers and the CIty. The network would provide a significantly higher amount of redundancy, enabling redundant 1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit paths to service providers rather than linear dark fiber strands. This would introduce a level of fault tolerance or diversity into the core backbone providing higher reliability and availability to businesses and community anchors using the network. Service providers would request new connections to their customers from the City. Once a customer signed with a service provider, the service provider would order transport service to the new customer. Once the service provider signed a service order with the City and paid any upfront charges, the City would build the last-mile fiber connection to the end customer and provision a transport service through its network back to the interconnection point with that service provider. The City would charge a monthly recurring fee to the service provider for use of the transport service for a certain contract term and at a certain bandwidth. The City of Columbia would maintain a rate structure based on bandwidth, with increasing charges for more bandwidth. This would allow the City to upcharge the service providers as customers utilized more bandwidth and implement a tiered pricing structure from lower-speed services to 1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit services. Development of the open-access network would result in the greatest benefits to Columbia’s broadband environment and meet the objectives that the City of Columbia is looking to achieve in the broadband planning study. First, a single fiber-optic network with multiple service providers introduces a more competitive environment for businesses and community anchors as they now have access to more service providers than were previously available. Second, businesses and residents would have the opportunity to shop for services amongst a pool of providers and could potentially contract for services from multiple providers; Internet from one, voice from another, and transport or backup services from yet another. Third, businesses and community anchors have more control over their services and can switch providers more easily if they are not satisfied with their current provider. Since all providers will utilize a single City-owned fiber network, customers won’t be charged a second round of installation fees if they switch from one provider to another; all participating providers will utilize the City of Columbia’s open-access network 16 . Finally, open-access lit networks have traditionally introduced new providers into markets offering competitive rates as significant capital investment to enter these new markets is not required since the City is responsible for the costs of fiber construction and management. 16 Customers will still maintain term contracts with service providers that may result in some barriers to switching. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 48 An open-access lit network could also become a strategic asset for the City of Columbia’s Water and Light Department as this network could be utilized in the future for various operational applications. Future metering options are dependent upon reliable communications to and from the grid management systems to the individual meters. This network would allow the Water and Light department the ability to run these operational type applications across the same infrastructure as the broadband services. Some considerations for the City to evaluate in implementing an open-access network include the additional operations and management responsibilities required to maintain the network, recruitment, negotiation and provision of new services, and financing requirements to build the network. The City will be responsible for implementing and maintaining network electronics to manage services on the network. While this equipment is fairly simple to manage it does require the City to have technical resources to provision and monitor services as they are deployed. In order for service providers to consider providing services over the City of Columbia’s network, the City must establish Service Level Agreements (SLA) that are similar to what service providers receive in the current telecommunications industry. The City of Columbia will also need to define business and operational processes to manage the network and ensure that service providers’ needs are met. Further, deployment of an open-access network requires new funding for construction of last-mile fiber, network electronics, operational support systems, and potentially new staffing or an outsourced network management company who will operate the network on the City’s behalf. These items are more fully described in the following sections. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 49 Figure 9-1 – Columbia Community Broadband Network The majority of the anchor institutions in Columbia are currently served by some type of fiber connectivity. Many of these anchors utilize the City of Columbia’s fiber network for fiber connectivity between their facilities. For example, Columbia Public Schools uses the City’s network to interconnect the various Schools to one another and to the School District’s administration building. In addition, several service providers use the City’s network to deliver fiber connectivity to business customers in the City. Analysis of last- mile fiber connectivity in Columbia clearly indicated that the City’s fiber network could play a key role in additional build out of fiber connectivity to businesses and residents. This analysis includes detailed mapping performed by Magellan which is not included in this report due to requirements to keep critical infrastructure details as non-public information. Those who meet disclosure requirements may view these maps by contacting Columbia Water & Light. Services In an open-access network the City would not provide any retail services directly but would provide a new wholesale fiber solution to service providers that would utilize the network to serve residents and businesses within Columbia. In doing so, the City of Columbia could potentially provide a new source of next-generation broadband access to service providers while maintaining neutrality and non-discrimination and staying out of competition with service providers. Columbia High-speed Broadband Planning Study – Executive Summary 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 52 • Conduit construction • Fiber-Optic feeder cable construction • Fiber-Optic distribution cable construction • Fiber-to-the-premise construction • Common equipment • Fiber-to-the-premise equipment In order to accurately account for the number of potential premises passed, the Downtown Core was broken into 6 distinct zones. This allowed for an accurate count of residential and commercial premises which translated into the GPON and Active Ethernet architecture requirements as they relate to equipment and field components. The estimated premise counts by zone are as follows: Zone 1 • Residential – 57 • Commercial – 109 Zone 2 • Residential – 137 • Commercial – 58 Zone 3 • Residential – 155 • Commercial – 86 Zone 4 • Residential – 162 • Commercial – 128 Zone 5 • Residential – 0 • Commercial – 251 Zone 6 • Residential – 57 • Commercial – 83 With approximately 1300 premises in the Downtown Core, two field cabinets equipped with outside plant termination and equipment supporting GPON and Active Ethernet technologies will be required to provide access to customers in the area. The cabinets would ideally be placed on Columbia Water and Light property or other readily accessible sites or within City of Columbia right of way. The cabinets will be equipped with GPON splitters to provide fiber access to the immediate area while additional GPON splitter pedestals will be located strategically in each zone to provide access to the distribution cable which will provide connectivity to drop cable feeding each premise. 1 Gigabit or 10 Gigabit backbone connections between the cabinets will be required; ultimately providing a fully redundant self-healing ring for the network. Backbone fiber was not included in this estimate as it is assumed exiting Water and Light fiber could be used for this purpose. The GPON and Active Ethernet architecture will allow the City to easily meet the needs of all current customers within the Downtown Core including residents, small to medium businesses, large enterprise businesses, and community anchor institutions and allow for future growth of high-bandwidth services in the Downtown Core. It will provide a simple upgrade path for customers without significant capital required to accommodate these needs. An Optical Network Terminal (“ONT”) would be required to terminate premise fiber at each residential or commercial service location. There are many Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 53 different types of ONTs available to meet the need of single family, stand-alone commercial, or multi dwelling unit sites. In addition, several GPON and Active Ethernet manufacturers provide ONT devices which allow for auto detection of GPON or Active Ethernet service type; ultimately allowing for a standardized ONT device used for deployment as well as auto sensing technology which provides a service upgrade path to Active Ethernet where required. Downtown Core Cost Estimates The Downtown Core FTTP network as designed is estimated to cost approximately $2.25 million to $3.25 million dollars in the feeder, distribution, and drop network to connect roughly 1300 premises. It is assumed that several Columbia W&L fiber backbone segments could be utilized in the architecture, thereby utilizing existing backbone connectivity for interconnection of the OLT sites and cabinets. Drops to individual premise would be estimated to cost between $500 and $1250 per site with costs entirely dependent on the drop construction method. The GPON/AE common equipment, including OLT and outdoor cabinets is estimated to cost $166,000, with an additional $30,000 in professional services. ONTs would have to be provided per premise and are estimated to cost $335 each or $430,000 for 1300 premises. The Downtown Core Estimate Includes: Feeder, Distribution and Drop Network $2.25 - $3.25 Million GPON/AE Platform (OLT) $196,000 1300 ONT $430,000 Total Capital Budget $2.875 - $3.875 Million Downtown Core FTTP Business Case The goal of developing an FTTP Business Case for Columbia is to determine the feasibility of building an FTTP network to provide next-generation broadband to the community. To do so on a citywide level can be a significant undertaking and one that should be completed in the next phase to this Study. For the purposes of this Study, a targeted business case was developed that could be used to perform a much wider analysis of feasibility across Columbia. To do so, this Study evaluated the Downtown Core as a targeted business case for FTTP build out because it represented a high-cost area for constructing fiber infrastructure, had the potential to generate significant interest from the service provider community, and maintained a density of customers that could sustain a large capital investment. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 54 Market Penetration The Downtown Core sample build included the deployment of a fiber GPON/AE network to 1300 premises located within the area. Magellan believes attaining a take rate of 50% of premises over a 5-year period is reasonable with the right implementation, deployment, and marketing plan. This also warrants the buy-in and participation of service providers to market, sell, and compete for business and residential customers in the Downtown Core. Figure 9-2 on the next page shows estimated uptake of fiber transport services over the first 10 years of the project. Uptake is expected to slow after the first 5 years with an average annualized 5% growth rate. This results in the City serving 75% of the total premises in the Downtown Core. 57 Revenues Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Annual Uptake 5% 8% 12% 15% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% Cumulative Uptake 5% 13% 25% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Service Charges Residential $8,520 $22,152 $42,600 $68,160 $85,200 $93,720 $102,240 $110,760 $119,280 $127,800 Commercial $64,350 $167,310 $321,750 $514,800 $643,500 $707,850 $772,200 $836,550 $900,900 $965,250 Total Service Charges $72,870 $189,462 $364,350 $582,960 $728,700 $801,570 $874,440 $947,310 $1,020,180 $1,093,050 Installation Charges Residential $710 $1,136 $1,704 $2,130 $1,420 $710 $710 $710 $710 $710 Commercial $5,363 $8,580 $12,870 $16,088 $10,725 $5,363 $5,363 $5,363 $5,363 $5,363 Total Installation Charges 6,073 9,716 14,574 18,218 12,145 6,073 6,073 6,073 6,073 6,073 Total Gross Revenues $78,943 $199,178 $378,924 $601,178 $740,845 $807,643 $880,513 $953,383 $1,026,253 $1,099,123 Figure 9-3 – Potential Gross Revenues – First 10 Years Columbia High-speed Broadband Planning Study – Executive Summary 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 58 Operating Costs The City will need to decide how the community broadband network will be managed. Personnel, systems, and processes will be required to provide operations and management of the network once constructed. The network would be supported either using in-house resources or outsourcing the operation to a network operator. While the City of Columbia has extensive experience in outside plant operations and maintenance, the equipment, associated provisioning, and monitoring processes may be a component that the City would rather outsource to a qualified network operator. These decisions should be weighed careful to determine the right mix of insourcing and outsourcing balanced with the financial performance of the network. This analysis would be a significant part of developing Columbia’s Community Broadband Business Plan as the next step to this project. Key operational costs that the City of Columbia will incur in its open-access network include: • Outside plant operations and maintenance • Inside plant operations and maintenance • Network equipment maintenance, renewal, and replacement • Software licensing and support • Personnel costs to manage the open-access network • Outsourced network operator costs for managing the network • Debt service costs For broadband utility operators, these costs vary, depending on the services provided, decision to insource or outsource, and type of network they support. Open-access networks are generally less costly to operate than other types of broadband utility networks that provide content and retail services. Based on analysis of cost structures from several active community broadband networks, The City of Columbia could expect its operating costs to average 25% of gross revenues and general overhead to average 15% of gross revenues. Additionally, The City of Columbia must factor in debt service costs if it plans to finance the network using a debt instrument, such as bonds or bank loans. If it uses a general fund or internal utility fund, these may not be applicable. Without debt service, the project would be expected to generate $4,059,588 of net income over the 10-year period. At this level, the City would achieve an 8-year payback on the project if the original network’s capital $2.5 million and a 9-year payback if the project original capital cost of the network was $3.5 million. Benefits to the Community The results of the City’s open-access network would be significant for the community. It would equip residents and businesses with the features they currently lack in broadband services, allowing them to conduct business more efficiently, enable new Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 59 capabilities, access more online applications, and do so reliably and at lower costs. For businesses, it results in gains in productivity, efficiency and overall competitiveness at a lower price point than they are paying today. For the City, it enables Columbia to showcase downtown as a technology corridor equipped for the needs of the largest and most data intensive businesses. It also supports technology transfer from MU to ensure the ideas and research becomes commercialized into new startups that will stay in Columbia, in part because of downtown’s next-generation broadband services. Measured in real dollars, the community broadband network provides a reasonable payback of between 8 – 9 years. When compared with other utility and infrastructure projects that may extend to 15 – 20 years at a minimum, the community broadband network provides a sound business case and soft benefits to the community. Beyond payback of the project, the soft, “off balance sheet” benefits to Columbia’s community, in terms of potential job retention, job growth and GDP growth provide significant value that need to be included in the overall project. Additional Community Broadband Expansion The Downtown Core project can be used as a model for further evaluation of next- generation broadband deployment in other areas of Columbia. Building on this initial project the City of Columbia should evaluate its opportunities to expand the CW&L network to areas beyond the Downtown Core. Using open-access the City can continue this expansion in cooperation with service providers to serve other business and residential areas of Columbia with fiber-based broadband. In some cases these expansions will provide sound business cases for the City to consider while in others they may not, depending on the overall cost of the infrastructure, residential and business densities, and other factors. Where sound business cases may not be available, particularly in the more rural areas of the community, the City of Columbia can complement its broadband utility development with analyzing funding opportunities that may be available in federal grant and loan programs; in cases where there is no business case to deploy, these programs allow broadband providers to build out into more rural areas with federal dollars. Federal grant and loan programs have been instituted to promote the expansion of broadband, primarily targeting communities in rural America. These programs are generally centered on key community functions such as public safety, education, and healthcare. Communities can, in many cases, partner with private service providers to secure federal funding to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in their communities; mutually benefiting both the public and private partner. Some of these programs include the Department of Commerce’s FirstNET Program, the Federal Communication Commission’s Connect America Fund and Healthcare Connect Fund, and the Obama Administration’s recently announced ConnectEd Program. Magellan suggests that the City of Columbia stay abreast of these programs as a key part of its broadband initiative and move forward to identify which programs may be appropriate to consider. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 62 10. Appendix A – Glossary 3G – Third Generation The third generation of mobile broadband technology, used by smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices to access the web. 4G – Fourth Generation The fourth generation of mobile broadband technology, used by smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices to access the web. ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line DSL service with a larger portion of the capacity devoted to downstream communications, less to upstream. Typically thought of as a residential service. ADSS – All-Dieletric Self- Supporting A type of optical fiber cable that contains no conductive metal elements. AMR/AMI – Automatic Meter Reading/Advanced Metering Infrastructure Electrical meters that measure more than simple consumption and an associated communication network to report the measurements. ATM – Asynchronous Transfer Mode A data service offering that can be used for interconnection of customer’s LAN. ATM provides service from 1 Mbps to 145 Mbps utilizing Cell Relay Packets. Bandwidth The amount of data transmitted in a given amount of time; usually measured in bits per second, kilobits per second (kbps), and Megabits per second (Mbps). Bit A single unit of data, either a one or a zero. In the world of broadband, bits are used to refer to the amount of transmitted data. A kilobit (Kb) is approximately 1,000 bits. A Megabit (Mb) is approximately 1,000,000 bits. There are 8 bits in a byte (which is the unit used to measure storage space), therefore a 1 Mbps connection takes about 8 seconds to transfer 1 megabyte of data (about the size of a typical digital camera photo). BPL – Broadband over Powerline A technology that provides broadband service over existing electrical power lines. BPON – Broadband Passive Optical Network BPON is a point-to-multipoint fiber-lean architecture network system which uses passive splitters to deliver signals to multiple users. Instead of running a separate strand of fiber from the CO to every customer, BPON uses a single strand of fiber to serve up to 32 subscribers. Broadband A descriptive term for evolving digital technologies that provide consumers with integrated access to voice, high- speed data service, video-demand services, and interactive delivery services (e.g. DSL, Cable Internet). CAD – Computer Aided Design The use of computer systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. CAI – Community Anchor Institutions The National Telecommunications and Information Administration defined CAIs in its SBDD program as “Schools, libraries, medical and healthcare providers, public safety entities, community colleges and other institutions of higher Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 63 education, and other community support organizations and entities”. Universities, colleges, community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, health care facilities, social service providers, public safety entities, government and municipal offices are all community anchor institutions. CAP – Competitive Access Provider (or “Bypass Carrier”) A Company that provides network links between the customer and the Inter-Exchange Carrier or even directly to the Internet Service Provider. CAPs operate private networks independent of Local Exchange Carriers. Cellular A mobile communications system that uses a combination of radio transmission and conventional telephone switching to permit telephone communications to and from mobile users within a specified area. CLEC – Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Wireline service provider that is authorized under state and Federal rules to compete with ILECs to provide local telephone service. CLECs provide telephone services in one of three ways or a combination thereof: 1) by building or rebuilding telecommunications facilities of their own, 2) by leasing capacity from another local telephone company (typically an ILEC) and reselling it, and 3) by leasing discrete parts of the ILEC network referred to as UNEs. CO – Central Office A circuit switch where the phone lines in a geographical area come together, usually housed in a small building. Coaxial Cable A type of cable that can carry large amounts of bandwidth over long distances. Cable TV and cable modem service both utilize this technology. CPE – Customer Premise Equipment Any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication channel at the demarcation point ("demarc"). CWDM – Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing A technology similar to DWDM only utilizing less wavelengths in a more customer-facing application whereby less bandwidth is required per fiber. Demarcation Point (“demarc”) The point at which the public switched telephone network ends and connects with the customer's on-premises wiring. Dial-Up A technology that provides customers with access to the Internet over an existing telephone line. DLEC – Data Local Exchange Carrier DLECs deliver high-speed access to the Internet, not voice. Examples of DLECs include Covad, Northpoint and Rhythms. Downstream Data flowing from the Internet to a computer (Surfing the net, getting E-mail, downloading a file). DSL – Digital Subscriber Line The use of a copper telephone line to deliver “always on” broadband Internet service. DSLAM – Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplier A piece of technology installed at a telephone company’s Central Office (CO) and connects the carrier to the subscriber loop (and ultimately the customer’s PC). Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 64 DWDM – Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing An optical technology used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber-optic networks. DWDM works by combining and transmitting multiple signals simultaneously at different wavelengths on the same fiber. In effect, one fiber is transformed into multiple virtual fibers. E-Rate A Federal program that provides subsidy for voice and data circuits as well as internal network connections to qualified schools and libraries. The subsidy is based on a percentage designated by the FCC. EON – Ethernet Optical Network The use of Ethernet LAN packets running over a fiber network. EvDO – Evolution Data Only EvDO is a wireless technology that provides data connections that are 10 times as fast as a traditional modem. This has been overtaken by 4G LTE. FCC – Federal Communications Commission A Federal regulatory agency that is responsible for regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. FDH – Fiber Distribution Hub A connection and distribution point for optical fiber cables. FTTN – Fiber to the Neighborhood A hybrid network architecture involving optical fiber from the carrier network, terminating in a neighborhood cabinet with converts the signal from optical to electrical. FTTP – Fiber to the premise (or FTTB – Fiber to the building) A fiber-optic system that connects directly from the carrier network to the user premises. GIS – Geographic Information Systems A system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. GPON- Gigabit-Capable Passive Optical Network Similar to BPON, GPON allows for greater bandwidth through the use of a faster approach (up to 2.5 Gbps in current products) than BPON. GPS – Global Positioning System a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications This is the current radio/telephone standard developed in Europe and implemented globally except in Japan and South Korea. HD – High Definition (Video) Video of substantially higher resolution than standard definition. HFC – Hybrid Fiber Coaxial An outside plant distribution cabling concept employing both fiber-optic and coaxial cable. ICT – Information and Communications Technology Often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but it is more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications, computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 67 SONET – Synchronous Optical Network A family of fiber-optic transmission rates. Steaming Streamed data is any information/data that is delivered from a server to a host where the data represents information that must be delivered in real time. This could be video, audio, graphics, slide shows, web tours, combinations of these, or any other real time application. Subscribership Subscribership is how many customers have subscribed for a particular telecommunications service. Switched Network A domestic telecommunications network usually accessed by telephone, key telephone systems, private branch exchange trunks, and data arrangements. T-1 – Trunk Level 1 A digital transmission link with a total signaling speed of 1.544 Mbps. It is a standard for digital transmission in North America. T-3 – Trunk Level 3 28 T1 lines or 44.736 Mbps. UNE – Unbundled Network Element Leased portions of a carrier’s (typically an ILEC’s) network used by another carrier to provide service to customers. Over time, the obligation to provide UNEs has been greatly narrowed, such that the most common UNE now is the UNE-Loop. Universal Service The idea of providing every home in the United States with basic telephone service. Upstream Data flowing from your computer to the Internet (sending E- mail, uploading a file). UPS – Uninterruptable Power Supply An electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, typically main power, fails. USAC – Universal Service Administrative Company An independent American nonprofit corporation designated as the administrator of the Federal Universal Service Fund (USF) by the Federal Communications Commission. VDSL – Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line A developing digital subscriber line (DSL) technology providing data transmission faster than ADSL over a single flat untwisted or twisted pair of copper wires (up to 52 Mbit/s downstream and 16 Mbit/s upstream), and on coaxial cable (up to 85 Mbit/s down and upstream); using the frequency band from 25 kHz to 12 MHz. Video on Demand A service that allows users to remotely choose a movie from a digital library whenever they like and be able to pause, fast- forward, and rewind their selection. VLAN – Virtual Local Area Network In computer networking, a single layer-2 network may be partitioned to create multiple distinct broadcast domains, which are mutually isolated so that packets can only pass between them via one or more routers; such a domain is referred to as a Virtual Local Area Network, Virtual LAN or VLAN. VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol An application that employs a data network (using a broadband connection) to transmit voice conversations using Internet Protocol. VPN – Virtual Private Network A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 68 across a public network, such as the Internet. It enables a computer to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if it were directly connected to the private network, while benefitting from the functionality, security and management policies of the private network. This is done by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, encryption, or a combination of the two. WAN – Wide Area Network A network that covers a broad area (i.e., any telecommunications network that links across metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries) using private or public network transports. WiFi WiFi is a popular technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data or connect to the Internet wirelessly using radio waves. The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards". WiMax WiMax is a wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. WiMax can be used for a number of applications, including “last mile” broadband connections, hotspot and cellular backhaul, and high speed enterprise connectivity for businesses. Wireless Telephone service transmitted via cellular, PCS, satellite, or other technologies that do not require the telephone to be connected to a land-based line. Wireless Internet 1) Internet applications and access using mobile devices such as cell phones and palm devices. 2) Broadband Internet service provided via wireless connection, such as satellite or tower transmitters. Wireline Service based on infrastructure on or near the ground, such as copper telephone wires or coaxial cable underground or on telephone poles. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 69 11. Appendix B – Survey Question Charts Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 72 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 73 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 74 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 77 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 78 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 79 Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 82 California FIPS>. Scale should be 1ft. x 1 ft. As-builts will include cadastral boundaries to include right of ways and planimetric boundaries that includes edge of pavement. <INSERT NAME> base map can be provided upon request. As-builts shall be provided to designated City representative, incorporating any changes made during or after construction. Final As-builts shall be completed only once all Fiber-Optic cables in said project have been fully installed and tested and tests have been accepted by designated City representative prior to project closeout. Reference Standards A. Adherence to, and compliance with, the codes and standards referenced, and the <INSERT NAME>’s unique requirements and design solutions identified in the manual, is mandatory. Requests to deviate from the industry standards and design solutions prescribed in these guidelines may be submitted, on a case-by- case basis, to the <INSERT NAME> Engineer for review and approval. No deviation from the requirements of the National Electrical Code will be allowed. B. Architects, Consultants, and Contractors shall always reference the most recent standards available. Most references listed below can be purchased directly from the individual standards organization, or from: Global Engineering Documents 15 Inverness Way East Englewood, CO 80112-5776 Telephone: (800) 854-7179 (303) 397-7956 Fax: (303) 397-2740 http://www.global.ihs.com Codes, Standards, References, and Applicability Design, Build Firm to follow all standards, references and technical special provisions referenced below. A. NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE, NFPA 70 The National Fire Protection Association has acted as the sponsor of the National Electrical Code (NEC) since 1911. The original Code was developed in 1897 as a result of the united efforts of various insurance, electrical, architectural, and allied interests. The purpose of the NEC is the practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity. The NEC provides the minimum code requirements for electrical safety. In telecommunications distribution design, the NEC must be used in concert with the ANSI/EIA/TIA standards identified below, which are intended to insure the performance of the telecommunications infrastructure. B. ANSI/TIA/EIA STANDARDS Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 83 The Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronics Industry Association (TIA/EIA) engineering standards and publications are designed to serve the public interest through eliminating misunderstandings between manufacturers and purchasers. The standards facilitate interchangeability and improvement of products and assist the purchaser in selecting and obtaining the proper product for his or her particular need. The TIA/EIA Standards are updated every five years. Due to the rapid changes in the telecommunications and electronics industries, TIA/EIA publishes periodic Telecommunications Systems Bulletins (TSB), which provides additional guidance on certain technical issues that must be addressed prior to the next scheduled revision of the standards. The information contained in TSBs is usually incorporated into the applicable standard during the next standards revision. Standards and publications are adopted by TIA/EIA in accordance with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) patent policy. The TIA web site is: http://www.tiaonline.org/ C. FIBER OPTIC TEST STANDARDS, TIA/EIA-526 The TIA/EIA-455 series, together with its addenda, provides uniform test procedures for testing the fiber optic components intended for, or forming a part of, optical communications and data transmission systems. This series contains standard test procedures for optical fibers, cables, transducers, and connecting and terminating devices. D. CABLING STANDARD, ANSI/TIA/EIA-568 The ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A series, together with its addenda is the Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard. This standard defines a generic telecommunications wiring system for commercial buildings that will support a multiproduct, multivendor environment. It also provides direction for the design of telecommunications products for commercial enterprise. The purpose of the standard is to enable planning and installation of building wiring with little knowledge of the telecommunications products that subsequently will be installed. Installation of wiring systems during building construction or renovation is significantly less expensive and less disruptive than after the building is occupied. TIA/EIA-568-A series establishes performance and technical criteria for various wiring system configurations for interfacing and connecting their respective elements. E. GROUNDING AND BONDING, ANSI/TIA/EIA-607 The ANSI/TIA/EIA-606 (series) is the Commercial Building, Grounding and Bonding Requirements for Telecommunications. The National Electrical Code (NEC) provides grounding, bonding, and electrical protection requirements to ensure life safety. Modern telecommunications systems require an effective grounding infrastructure to insure optimum performance of the wide variety of Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 84 electronic information transport systems that may be used throughout the life of a building. The grounding and bonding requirements of this standard are additional technical requirements for telecommunications that are beyond the scope of the NEC. These standards are intended to work in concert with the cabling topology specified in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A series, and installed in the pathways and spaces designed in accordance with ANSI/TIA/EIA-569-A. F. CUSTOMER OWNED OUTSIDE PLANT (OSP), ANSI/TIA/EIA-758 The ANSI/TIA/EIA-758 provides industry standards for the design and construction of customer owned OSP infrastructure. Unless specified otherwise in the <INSERT NAME>, standard OSP designed and constructed at all <INSERT NAME> facilities will be in compliance with ANSI/TIA/EIA-758. G. TRANSMISSION PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS, TIA/EIA BULLETIN TSB67 TSB67 is the Transmission Performance Specification for Field Testing of Unshielded Twisted- Pair (UTP) Cabling Systems. This bulletin specifies the electrical characteristics and performance requirements of field test instruments, test methods, and the minimum transmission requirements for UTP cabling. All testing of horizontal distribution cabling at <INSERT NAME> facilities will be performed with a TSB67 Level II test instrument. H. ADDITIONAL HORIZONTAL CABLING PRACTICES FOR OPEN OFFICES, TIA/EIA BULLETIN TSB75 This document specifies optional practices for open office environments, for any horizontal telecommunications cabling recognized in TIA/EIA-568. It specifies optional cabling schemes and topologies for horizontal cabling routed through modular office furniture or movable partitions, which are frequently reconfigured I. LOCAL AREA NETWORK ETHERNET STANDARD, IEEE 802.3 (SERIES) <INSERT NAME> utilizes the Ethernet LAN protocol at all facilities. All <INSERT NAME> infrastructures must be designed to support the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Ethernet 802.3 standards, which define protocols and signaling technologies. All newly installed cabling must support 1000BaseX Gigabit Ethernet protocol based on the IEEE 802.3z standard. J. THE BICSI TELECOMMUNICATIONS DISTRIBUTION METHODS MANUAL The Building Industry Consulting Service International, Inc. (BICSI) is a Telecommunications Association whose mission is to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications knowledge to the industry, resulting in good service to the end user. BICSI develops and publishes the Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual (TDMM). The TDMM is not a code or standard. The TDMM is an extensive volume of information on the various aspects of telecommunications systems and telecommunications distribution. The TDMM provides discussions and examples of various engineering methods and design solutions that can be selected and employed in order to meet the requirements of the NEC and Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 87 Marker Poles Easily visible, marked, 6’ fiber optic marker poles should be placed above the conduit at all major transitions to said conduit (turns greater than 25 degrees, etc.), where applicable. Please get marking poles approved by the <INSERT NAME> prior to installation/purchase. Conduit Entering Hand Holes/Man Holes All conduits should be stubbed up underneath the bottom of each manhole/hand hole leaving at least 8” but no more than 12” of visible conduit exposed. Conduit and inner ducts should be capped until use, after use they should be plugged appropriately to maintain the integrity of the conduit/inner duct from dirt and water. Locate Information As an as-built information gathering job, all splice points, vaults/hand hole/manhole/conduit turns of 45 degrees or greater should receive a GPS coordinate that is marked and labeled back onto the as-built drawings. Building Entrances All building entrances should be checked and approved with the <INSERT NAME> Project Engineer or liaison. Preference is given in the following order (but dictated by the facility itself) utilizing existing conduit to enter the building, core drilling and bringing conduit up through the floor, bringing conduit up the outside of a facility, attaching a pull box to the exterior of said building and entering through the wall of the building. Box Sizing Please confirm with the <INSERT NAME> your selection of boxes and box sizes PRIOR to utilization of said boxes in quote or design. All boxes utilized MUST meet the MDT applicable indexes and be on the MDT approved equipment list. The following sizes are to be used wherever possible: 16x22x18.” (straight wall) 16x22x30.” (flared wall) 17x30x18.” (flared wall) 24x36x30.” (flared wall) 30x60x36.” (flared wall) Please get all boxes approved during the design phase and prior to purchasing/installation of said boxes. All box lids shall have a Logo embedded on them. This logo is to be provided by the <INSERT NAME>. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 88 Guidelines for Installing Conduit Depth (Minimum / Maximum) The conduit used as the primary carrier of the fiber optic cable should be buried no greater than 42” and no less than 36” beneath grade except where code requires otherwise or directed in writing by the Project Engineer on behalf of the <INSERT NAME>. Reel Placement Have the reel set adjacent to the manhole and use a fiber optic manhole pulling block assembly. Conduit type/ Inner Duct type Standard placement shall be of quantity (2), 2” ID HDPE conduits (Color Orange and Blue), direct buried/trenched/bored as appropriate to the construction needs. If specified an outer conduit shall be of the HDPE type, of suitable strength per the governing MDT indexes for the location of work. Conduit shall be 6” I.D. in size with quantity (2), 2” ID HDPE conduits (Color Orange and Blue). All conduits and inner ducts should be cleared and cleaned prior to capping. Guidelines for Installing/Pulling Underground Fiber Optic Cable Bend Radius The main risk of damage to the fiber optic cable is by overlooking the minimum-bending radius. It is important to know that the damage occurs more easily when the cable is bent under tension, so when the installation is in process be sure to allow for at least the minimum bending radius. The number of 90-degree turns on a pull shall not exceed four (4). Reel Placement Have the reel set adjacent to the manhole and use a fiber optic manhole pulling block assembly from Sherman & Reilly (or similar). Cable Slack Please coil 150 feet of cable at transition points, termination points, and every 1500 feet. Splices All splice locations will be designated by the <INSERT NAME>. Strength The fibers in the cable will shatter under considerable impact, pressure or if pulling tensions exceed 600 LB, although from the outside of the cable this will not be apparent. With fiber optic cable the jacket of the cable and the Kevlar layer directly beneath give the cable its strength so please be sure to note and repair all nicks and cuts. Columbia Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning Study 2014 Magellan Advisors, LLC 89 Installation When installing use a swivel eye for pulling the fiber optic cable and conduit system. Precautions Please review the manufacturer's installation instructions prior to commencing with the installation. If any questions arise during installation please refer to the manufacturer's installation instructions, or notify the Project Engineer. Testing Perform OTDR test on each fiber in the installed cable, to verify the parameters of each fiber meet the system design criteria. Power meter tests should also be performed. All test results should be provided to the <INSERT NAME> Project Engineer in PDF format. Safety Contractor to provide proper work zone safety through an approved site-specific MOT (Maintenance of Traffic) plan. Contractor to ensure that all personnel working in the field adhere to all PPE (Personnel Protection Equipment) requirements needed for the particular job location at all times. Contractor to conduct pre-work safety briefings with workers prior to starting work each day/shift in the field. This briefing should be conducted by supervisor/manager in the field. All safety briefings should be logged in paper and this log easily accessible by <INSERT NAME> personnel in the field. Locating Fiber Optic Cables Aiding the locators, please install a #12 gauge wire. Pull #12 gauge wire in with the fiber cable for the underground conduit systems. Terminate the ends of the #12 gauge wire in a handhold box. This box can be used by the locating contractor.