City Council Agenda and Packet 2018 10 09 SP

Home Browse Search

SUBJECT: BROADBAND NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND FEASIBILITY STUDY DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2018 PAGE 2 OF 3 • Conduct cost analysis — provide critical information regarding network capital expenditure estimates, financing alternatives, market penetration, rates and service. • Evaluate financing and funding availability — evaluate financing needs, including: stakeholder/third party contributors, grant funding, public -private partnerships, capital, revenue bond and municipal self -funding options. • Identify next steps — recommend next steps that the City can undertake to improve broadband/wireless service. FINDINGS: The City selected VantagePoint Solutions (VPS) to conduct the Broadband Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study. The final report from VPS is attached to staff's communication. Staff has highlighted several key findings from the report below: • All residents/businesses have access to broadband - according to providers, the City does not have a broadband access problem. Residents and businesses can purchase high-speed broadband from anywhere in City limits. There are also several choices for internet or bundled service with a variety of pricing options. • Over half of Louisville residents are satisfied with current service - according to the resident/business survey, over half of Louisville residents are satisfied with their current service. VPS estimates the take rate (percentage of potential subscribers who are offered the service that actually subscribe) for a municipal Fiber -to -the -Home (FTTH) network to be between 30-35%, depending on offerings and pricing. • City should not pursue FTTH network - VPS does not recommend that the City move forward with building a FTTH network. Last mile networks usually require a take rate between 40-60% to be successful. VPS recommends that the City continue to explore building a middle -mile network with Wi-Fi in several public locations around town. • City should explore middle mile network - the purpose of a middle mile network is generally to build a high fiber count backbone that provides direct connections to community anchor institutions but does not directly serve homes and businesses. The City is in need of additional fiber as there is little capacity left in the existing fiber count for municipal operations and it lacks redundancy. • Middle mile network could support community institutions - a middle mile network could be built to support internal government needs and/or other community institutions (i.e. schools, public safety agencies, hospitals). A middle mile network could be operated directly by the municipality or outsourced to a network operator. • City should explore partnership with neighboring communities - there is interest in neighboring municipalities to explore regional solutions that could include an interconnected middle mile network. VPS recommends that the City CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION