Request for Information from Broadband Service Providers: RFI VTA2014-144C Braintree, Eden, Readsboro, Sharon, Pomfret, Wilmington Vermont Telecommunications Authority 100 State Street Suite 342 Montpelier, VT 05620-3205 info@telecomvt.org Tel. 802.828.1788 Fax. 802.828.1789 Release Date: April 7th, 2014
Table of Contents 1. Purpose... 3 2. Technical Requirements for BBIDs... 3 3. General Requirements:... 4 3.1. Maintenance and Support... 4 3.2. Service Provider Qualifications... 4 5. Financial Assistance or Development of Neutral Infrastructure... 4 6. Proprietary Information... 5 7. Requests for Information... 5 8. Response Information... 6 9. Revisions to Notice... 6 10. Proposal Deadline... 6 11. Appendix A BBID Maps... 7
1. Purpose The purpose of this Request-for-Information (RFI) is to identify broadband Internet access solutions in approved Business Broadband Improvement Districts (BBIDs). BBIDs have been approved through a Request-for-Proposals process issued by the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) on July 23, 2013. (See http://www.telecomvt.org/rfp/138.) Maps of the areas subject to this RFI are included as Appendix A. The VTA is seeking information from broadband service providers which may be able to reach the locations identified within each BBID with broadband service levels that meet the technical specifications defined below. This RFI seeks to identify if there are service providers who are able to provide the specified broadband services to all locations identified within the BBIDs at rates comparable to similar services offered elsewhere in the state, based solely on the expressed customer demand, and without VTA funding. VTA will facilitate communications between any respondents who are able to provide the requested services and the potential business users in the BBIDs with the objective of transitioning quickly to direct communications between the broadband service provider and the potential customers. If necessary, the VTA may facilitate questions that potential small business users may have about the proposed service, and will consider feedback from potential users about the proposed service. Although this RFI does not make available VTA funding to improve broadband service in the BBIDs the VTA also seeks comment from broadband service providers who may be interested in providing the requested service(s) if financial or other assistance is available. 2. Technical Requirements for BBIDs The business landscape in Vermont is diverse and includes many small businesses. Business locations as used in this RFI includes small offices/home offices operating from residential locations. Some business examples seen in these BBIDs include: movie and music creation with high file transfer needs, physicians and business professionals working on high definition medical imagery and remote work spaces. For these reasons the services provided to the districts must be of a business grade, with the ability to offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure capacity and quality of service is available at set rates. Services offered should support the following technical characteristics: a. Symmetric and asymmetric data rates from 10Mbps to 100MB today with preference for a service with the ability to provide Internet bandwidth above 100MB. b. Transport of voice and video traffic with RTT latency measurements less than 50 msecs and Jitter less than 10 msecs. c. Dynamic and static IP addressing d. Availability of service 99.99% e. Outage notification system with a proven restoration protocol. f. Able to provide historical data to show Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR).
3. General Requirements: 3.1. Maintenance and Support Participant shall outline processes for maintenance and support, including identification and response to service outages or service degradation 3.2. Service Provider Qualifications Responding service providers should have the following qualifications: a. A team / organization with demonstrated experience delivering the services of the type proposed. b. The ability to provide sales and customer service support to users within the identified area. c. The ability to sustain operations of the network supporting the proposed services over time. d. The ability to provide 24/7/365 network operations support with a centralized support contact list. e. The ability to provide a service deck with clear pricing for businesses looking for service after the initial District installation. Prices should be regionally competitive for like services. 5. Financial Assistance or Development of Neutral Infrastructure If no qualified service providers responding to this RFI are able to provide the specified services in one or more of the BBIDs at recurring and non-recurring rates comparable to similar services offered elsewhere in the state, the VTA will consider providing financial assistance or developing neutral infrastructure to help meet the need. Although the VTA may or may not provide such assistance, service providers who cannot meet the described need on their own are encouraged to comment on their willingness and ability to provide service if the VTA makes available one or more of these forms of assistance. Financial assistance may be provided in the form of a grant to a retail broadband service provider for capital costs of expansion or in the form of financial assistance to users to help pay for equipment or facilities required to receive the requested service (such as contributions to line extension costs or customerpremise wireless equipment). Neutral infrastructure may include dark fiber or towers. If the VTA chooses to develop dark fiber serving one or more of the areas identified in this RFI, fiber strands will be available for license to multiple service providers on terms similar (although not necessarily identical) to rates for other VTA developed or managed dark fiber projects. (See, for example, http://www.telecomvt.org/providers/darkfiber.) If VTA makes available grant funding, it will be offered through a competitive Notice of Grant Funding. If any of these forms of assistance are required, VTA will consider whether and how to provide assistance based on a number of factors, including: a. The magnitude of the need. How great is the difference between the identified need and services currently available?
b. The feasibility and cost-effectiveness of improvement options. Is it technically and economically possible within available funding levels to fund infrastructure and service improvements to meet the needs identified? c. Long-term strategic opportunities. Is there an opportunity to meet long-term needs, not merely make short-term improvements? d. Ability to leverage other initiatives in the region related to telecommunications. Are there other telecommunications initiatives in the area that can be leveraged by VTA efforts to improve broadband Internet services? e. Distribution of funds. Geographic distribution around the state will be considered. f. Opportunities to meet multiple telecommunications objectives. Can a proposed project support improvement of both broadband Internet and cellular services? 6. Proprietary Information Responses to this RFI should not include any information which the respondent considers to be proprietary. All responses will be considered public documents. 7. Requests for Information Respondents may provide a single response for all BBIDs in this RFI, or may provide separate responses for one or more BBIDs.. Responses may vary by BBID and responses may be submitted for only some of these geographic areas. 7.1. Company Information 7.1.1. Please provide a contact person for the response, including name, address, phone number, and email address. 7.1.2. Please provide summary information identifying how the company meets the Service Provider Qualifications described above. 7.2. Business Service Levels 7.2.1. Please identify what technology the company uses to deliver business grade Internet services. (for example, DOCSIS 3.0, ADSL+, FTTx, LTE, WiMax, etc.) 7.2.2. What Internet service tiers could the company offer business users within each BBID? 7.2.3. Please identify any technical limitations, and especially limitations related to any of the technical specifications described above. 7.2.4. Please identify what monthly recurring charges and non-recurring charges would be expected at each tier. 7.2.5. Please identify how these charges are similar to or different from charges for services the company offers in other parts of Vermont. 7.3. Deployment Factors 7.3.1. Are any of the proposed services currently available from the company in the proposed areas? If not, please explain the time required to make services available. 7.3.2. Would the company require advance customer commitments in order to deploy service? If so, please identify how many and any other relevant aspects of the commitment that would be required.
7.4. Financial assistance and neutral infrastructure development 7.4.1. Is the company able to provide the requested services in the BBIDs without financial assistance from the VTA or the development of neutral infrastructure? 7.4.2. Could development of neutral infrastructure by the VTA (towers or dark fiber) assist the company in its ability to provide service within the BBIDs? 7.4.3. Would the availability of grant funding be required in order for the company to provide the requested services within the BBIDs? If so, please comment on how much grant funding the VTA should expect to make available. 7.4.4. Would the availability of financial assistance to end users make it possible for the company to provide the requested services within the BBIDs? If so, please comment on how much funding the VTA should expect to make available. 7.5. Project Scope 7.5.1. Please indicate whether the company would require infrastructure improvements outside of a BBID in order to provide services within the BBID. 7.6. Additional Information 7.6.1. Please provide additional information you feel is relevant to this project. 8. Response Information 8.1. Single Point of Contact All communications concerning this Application are to be sent by email to info@telecomvt.org. Telephone Number: (802) 828-1788 Fax Number: (802) 828-1789 Website: www.telecomvt.org 9. Revisions to Notice If the VTA determines that it is necessary to revise any part of this Notice, or if additional data is necessary to clarify any of its provisions, a supplement will be posted to the VTA website. The VTA reserves the right to amend the Notice at any time. 10. Proposal Deadline Proposals must be submitted in either PDF or Microsoft Word format via email to info@telecomvt.org on or before 4:30 p.m. on April 28th, 2014. Early responses are encouraged and will be processed by the VTA to the extent feasible prior to the close of the application period.
11. Appendix A BBID Maps Locations below are based on town map parcel identifiers. E911 site ID can be provided upon request.
Sansom Upholstery 5351 VT Rte 100 Lakeview Camping 4921 VT-100 Eden Auto Body 23 Nancy Ln Kate Smith 637 Old Deuso Rd Town of Eden 71 Old Schoolhouse Road
List of Businesses for Business Broadband Town of Readsboro Mack Brothers/Rental Space Used Car Sales 6749 Main Street Caruso Wood Products 6749 East Main Street US Government Postal 6802 Main Street Berard s Excavating 6802 Main Street Route 100 Readsboro General Store 6706 Main Street/Route 100 Always Emma s Café 6998 Main Street Codogni & Sons 6998 Main Street Readsboro Glassworks 6954 Main Street Readsboro Hometown Redevelopment, Inc. 7012 Main Street, PO Box 261 Catamount Carpet Cleaning, Inc. 7066 Main Street Corner House Creations 1693 Branch Hill Road Readsboro Inn 7077 Main Street Eilers Bros. Trucking & Excavating, Inc. 55 Depot Street Fire and Emergency Responders 122 School Street TIP Development Log & Custom Homes Green Mountain Homes 6802 Main Stree/Route 100 Stacy Birch Outdoor Photography 617 Main Street Barkus Contractors/Construction 139 Bergwelt Lane
Howard Contracting 323 Tunnel Street Electrolysis By Michelle 390 Tunnel Street Readsboro Preschool, Inc. 437 Tunnel Street Readsboro Apartments T.H.M Property Management 430 Tunnel Street Renee Tower Crafts 80 Canal Drive Tom DeBlois, Construction Contractors 114 Whitney Road Debra Coombs, Stained Glass 359 Rue Madelie
Location Town 101 COMMERCE PK SHARON 202 COMMERCE PK SHARON 1936 RIVER RD SHARON 103 COMMERCE PK SHARON 374 COMMERCE PK SHARON 1777 RIVER RD SHARON 1995 RIVER RD SHARON
Business Location Town Thos. J. Manton, Inc 22 Manton Drive Windsor Brookside Stables 3 Cross Country Circle Windsor Palmiter Realty 148 Vermont 100 Windsor SPI Global Windsor Sherness Wood Works 24 Conifer Lane Windsor
Business Suicide Six Ski Area Mills Construction, Inc. Artistree Teago General Store Chippers Abbott Memorial Library South Pomfret Elementary School Ski Runners Address 247 Stage Road 84 Stage Rd 2095 Pomfret Road 2035 Pomfret Road 1241 Pomfret Rd 15 Library Street 1071 Pomfret Road 231 Stage Rd