Memorandum Hillsborough River Realty Company

Transcription

1 Memorandum Hillsborough River Realty Company Overview: URS Corporation has assessed the availability of redundant telecommunications and electric services for the Hillsborough River Realty Company (HRRC) development located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and the Hillsborough River in Downtown Tampa, Florida. The work associated with the realignment of Parker Street where it connects to Kennedy Boulevard contemplated and planned for the redundant telecommunications and electrical service necessary and anticipated for the HRRC project. The HRRC development is very well situated with reference to private utility redundancy. TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Introduction: There are three Tier 1 telecommunication providers: Verizon; XO Communications; and, Level 3 Communications. A Tier 1 network is an Internet Protocol (IP) network that participates in the Internet solely via a settlement-free interconnection and is one that can reach every other network on the Internet without purchasing IP transit or paying settlements. In today s fast-paced, global economy, Tier 1 providers are highly desirable and necessary for fast, secure Internet service and the exchange of sensitive data. Verizon, XO Communications and Level 3 have multiple fiber optic lines running east to west along Keller Avenue and under the Hillsborough River with capacity to service Downtown Tampa businesses. Verizon is the sole service provider that has infrastructure in-place and extended to the property lines of the HRRC development. As is explained below, upgraded redundant service can be available at the developer s expense. The Parker Street realignment project included relocating the above ground telephone wires serving the development to a below grade conduit system. There are two four-inch diameter PVC flexible ducts on top of another two four-inch diameter ducts that are reserved for the site. The conduit bank is located on the east side of Parker Street which will provide the infrastructure necessary to serve the site with two separate and distinct connections. These conduit banks were installed with the intentions of ensuring the capacity necessary to provide redundant telecommunication services to the future development. HRRC paid a portion of the costs to install these conduits during the Parker Street realignment project. In addition, conduits were installed under Parker Street to connect the River Parcel to the Plant Parcel. Recently, Level 3 and XO Communications consummated a business transaction in which XO purchased eight of the sixteen conduits installed by Level 3. Level 3 maintains control over the URS 7650 West Courtney Campbell Causeway Tampa, FL Tel Fax

2 remaining eight underground conduits that extend under the Hillsborough River and along the southern right-of-way of Keller Avenue. Contacts: Copies of URS/HRRC record drawings and final plats were provided to Verizon for their use and information in a program to update their database and utility atlas. Verizon s revised base map information was forwarded to Verizon s Engineering Department. Several interviews were conducted with Verizon to discuss the physical construction aspects and logistics for bringing underground conduits from Verizon s Hyde Park central office and the Tampa Main central office to the HRRC site. Investigation/Observations: The current need for high-speed transmission of data exceeds the capabilities of traditional copper wire-based data lines. Data intensive applications have created a demand for utilities to provide broadband, fiber-based communication systems. Existing resources (conduit and bandwidth availability) within Downtown Tampa for telecommunication services are primed and available for future development and capable of offering exceptional telecommunication capacity. The existing infrastructure is in-place with considerable unallocated resources ready for future expansion. There are three current levels of telecommunication services available through each provider: (1) standard single-feed service, (2) redundant connections utilizing either copper or fiber, and (3) SONET architecture. Redundant services can be basically described as a doubling of the current level of telecommunication services and features. In the relocation of Parker Street, this is precisely what HRRC provided for. The provider would have front door and back door connections to provide protection against a single point of failure. The redundant services would be fed into the structure at two separate and distinct points. The highest level of telecommunication service in the telecommunications industry is the SONET architecture. SONET is an acronym for Synchronous Optical NETwork. SONET is a set of related standards for synchronous data transmission over fiber optic networks. SONET is the United States version of the standard published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Through SONET architecture, Verizon offers high-capacity bandwidth users survivability options that are extremely high-powered (if one loop in the system fails, other loops provide the communication backbone.) Verizon advertises that its SONET-based network backbone survivability is unsurpassed in the industry. SONET networks are designed from the ground up for disaster avoidance using dual interconnecting ring-to-ring network topology to ensure network survivability. These services provide protection at significant savings compared to creating and managing a separate backbone network. The traditional services Verizon provides on the ring are T1 Frame Relay, T1 point to point, T1 voice, PRI (Primary Rate Interface), and fractional T1s. Now, services available in T3 and fiber-optic can be bundled with other services like video conferencing, phone, internet, etc. The T-carrier system was the first successful system that supported digitized voice transmission. The T-carrier system uses four lines and provides full duplex capability (two lines receiving and two for sending at the same time.) The four lines were originally a pair of twisted pair copper wires, but can now also include coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital microwave, and other media.

3 A significant geographic advantage of the HRRC site is that Verizon s Hyde Park Main and the Tampa Main (Downtown) central offices each provide the most diverse services offered in the Tampa Bay area. Each central office is linked to the FPL FiberNet (a subsidiary of Florida Power & Light) and has a Common Language Location Code (CLLI Codes) designation of HYPKFLXA. The CLLI is essential to the quick and precise exchange of information that enables businesses to interconnect with customers and other telecommunications carriers. FPL FiberNet has invested $350 million to expand their fiberoptic network throughout Florida's metropolitan cities. They also provide wholesale fiber services through partnerships and interconnections with multiple regional networks including Verizon throughout the southeastern United States. Without specific information on the needs of the future tenant users, Verizon could only provide general details as to how conduits and fiber would be brought to the site. Redundant service to the River Parcel will require at a minimum a four-pipe conduit bank using 4 diameter pipe. Two separate and distinct conduit banks would be brought to the site at two distinct termination points. The Tampa Main central network would be spliced and extended westward under the Hillsborough River via horizontal directional drilling. Horizontal directional drilling technology is the best option to place pipelines and utilities underground to avoid impacts to roads, existing utilities and environmentally sensitive areas. The precision and efficiency of drilling has improved dramatically over the years and pinpoint accuracy is now the norm with the advancement of laser-guided drills. The future connection to the Hyde Park central network is more complex to construct considering the more urbanized nature of the Downtown Tampa area. Verizon engineers explained that the fiber network would need to be analyzed closely to determine a suitable fiber splice point within their grid. Running conduits to the site would be accomplished with a combination of conventional open cut excavations along with horizontal directional drilling under roadways and rights-of-way. These issues will have to be addressed by the major telecommunication users in the HRRC area of Downtown Tampa. The current major telecommunication users on the west side of the Hillsborough River are Media General, Tampa General Hospital, the University of Tampa, and the future HRRC site. Verizon cannot present any cost information since there are too many variables and factors that are undetermined at this time. Verizon reiterated that single service feeds using copper-based wiring would be supplied at no charge to the developer. Redundant and upgraded service will be provided by HRRC to meet the needs of its tenant users and fiber optic cable will be run from the closest splice points to the development. Conclusion: The investigation performed by URS in regard to telecommunication services for the future development of the HRRC site has confirmed that the available services are extremely diverse and state-of-the-art. The location of the site is extremely advantageous in that two significant data centers (Tampa Main and Hyde Park Main) are within close proximity and they provide direct access to two independent communication grids. Redundant services are available and consultation with Verizon can ensure that the most advance telecommunications services are provided. The multiple connections that were provided during the construction of the infrastructure for redundant telecommunications services during the Parker Street realignment project would enable this link to be designed and implemented efficiently. Also, the recent emergence of XO Communications and Level 3 Communications in the downtown area provides an excellent competitive balance between the telecommunication service providers.

4 ELECTRICAL SERVICE The Parker Street Reconstruction project provided the opportunity to remove the Tampa Electric Company s ( TECO ) overhead electrical lines and relocate the system to a below grade network. Multiple-pipe conduit banks were designed and constructed with provisions being made for the future HRRC Tower and future electrical distribution system improvements. For example, beneath the Keller Avenue right-of-way, fourteen 4 diameter PVC pipes were installed in the electrical conduit bank with only six of these conduits containing cables. In addition, multiple stub-outs were provided to allow the maximum degree of flexibility in routing electrical service onto the site. Contacts: Conversations were conducted with TECO engineers to research their service available and future infrastructure upgrades. URS provided copies of the original construction plans and record drawings to TECO for their information and use in determining service availability. Investigation/Observations: TECO analyzed their electrical grid and has determined they have sufficient capacity in the area to provide redundant electrical connections to the site. The electrical capacity in the area for redundant power is four megawatts. TECO estimated that the River Parcel s load demand would be approximately seven megawatts. For TECO to upgrade their circuits, they approximate the upgrades could be made at an approximate cost of $350,000 to HRRC. TECO cautioned that the existing capacity and costs are subject to change as the loading on their circuit increases in the future. As the load increases, the unused capacity will decrease and associated costs will increase. In addition to capacity fees, there will be additional costs to provide power to the development. Many of the conduits installed in the right-of-way are cable installation-ready with the installation of cables being deferred until construction of the development commences. These costs are estimated at $500,000. TECO can provide redundant electrical connections to their distribution grid. The Plant Avenue substation would serve the site from two separate transformers to provide two dedicated circuits to the site referred to as relay service. Recent technological advances in switchgear can also provide nearly instantaneous switchover to alternate power sources. Standard switchgear can take from five to ten seconds in switching to the alternate power source. The new switchgear that is in development will only take 1-1/2 cycles to switch which is much faster. With this application, computer monitors should barely flicker when the electricity transfers to the alternate source. TECO also advised that Uninterrupted Power Sources (UPS) would be incorporated into the design of the building. The UPS is an on-site emergency generator that is connected to the building s electrical system. Conclusion: The research conducted by URS indicates that redundant electrical service is available at the project site. The relay service that would provide redundancy originates from the same substation. TECO states that the two different transformers utilized for the relay alleviate most of the risk of total

5 power outages. This does not take into account the on-site UPS emergency generator. A higher level of redundant electrical service might be achieved by serving the site from two separate and distinct substations, but this is currently not feasible according to TECO. The other substations that are closest to the site (Hyde Park, Rome Avenue, and Downtown), currently are in built-out areas of the city and no additional capacity is now available or currently planned.