a report from Councillor Nolan, Chair of the Neighborhood and Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebration Committee, for a public hearing held on October 14, 2020 to discuss the process for conducting the feasibility study for municipal broadband and the Request for Proposal

Attachment A Roy Russell October 2020 Upgrade Cambridge RFP Issues These issues should be included in the RFP for a Cambridge Municipal Broadband Feasibility Study What's the goal of building a fiber optic network? Municipal RFPs vary in how they answer that. Some possible answers: 1. Fiber connected to every residence and business in Cambridge 2. Fiber passing every residence and business in Cambridge, with connection on request 3. Do a needs/gap analysis and design a network to fill the gaps Network design. Create a detailed design for a network to meet the identified goal. This requires inspection of physical facilities including underground conduits, existing dark fiber, poles, and physical spaces for network electronics. Cost. The network design should lead to a reasonably accurate cost projection for the build. Business models. There are a range of business models possible. Upgrade Cambridge urges the City to retain full ownership of the physical network, but sell open access to private partners who would provide retail services. This business model enables the city to collect revenue and to require that the partners) abide by some terms and conditions such as net neutrality and privacy protections. Revenue. Core to the feasibility of broadband is how many will buy it (known as the "take rate") and at what cost. This is generally done through marketing surveys. The RFP needs to address the unique environment of Cambridge, encompass our digital equity goals, and include outreach to explain municipal broadband prior to the survey. Absent that outreach, you have a process biased towards an answer of "unfeasible." Financing. The network design, the cost estimate, and a rough construction schedule define the need for money. The construction schedule and revenue projections define the income the project will generate. The gap - until the system is fully built - will need to be financed, presumptively through debt. How much the City will have to borrow and what the structures for that borrowing can be need to be outlined. Related to financing is the possibility of creating a Joint Powers Entity with one or more other municipalities which can shield the city from some liabilities. The RFP should address the possibility of using this structure and its impact on financing. Staffing. The RFP must define a process to assess organizational readiness of City staff and propose additions to staff to provide ongoing expertise and oversight. Deliverables. The deliverables at the end of the feasibility study should be structured so that the decisions the City has to make are clear and concise. The network design should be of a quality that it can be used, with minimal work, as the basis of a request for a construction bid. The financing analysis, similarly, needs to be structured to make taking this to bonding agencies. We don't need to build in yet another process to get from a "yes" to an actual start of construction.