[1st-mile-nm] Albuquerque to release high-speed broadband RFP

[Richard Lowenberg]

Albuquerque Business First

Sep 19, 2014

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2014/09/19/city-to-release-high-speed-broadband-rfp.html 

On Friday, the city of Albuquerque said it will release a request for proposals for high-speed Internet along Central Avenue. The RFP will be to operate, maintain and provide an open access, high-speed broadband network, including free wi-fi along Central and inexpensive access throughout the Innovation District, said Peter Ambs, the city’s chief information officer, on Friday.

“We want to make sure we’re supplying ample bandwidth to our Innovation District; our railyards and all the entities along Central will be benefactors on this, whether it’s retail along Nob Hill or a resident,” Ambs said. “We know that the incumbents have fiber along Central. They own it and they control it…and they will have an opportunity to bid on this, and I hope they do. The key is that it’s an open-access fiber broadband network.”

The incumbents include CenturyLink and Comcast.

“If we could get access to the current dark fiber on Central, that’s ideal; the willingness of the incumbents to do that has not always been the case in other cities,” Ambs said.

The city does have $1 million of GO bonds, which voters approved last year, to construct the line.

Ideally, Ambs said, the line would stretch from 98th Street to Eubank, to connect the entire city. But the priorities include the Innovation District, Downtown and the University of New Mexico area.

“That’s’s the plan. It fits right into what we're doing with the Innovation District and making sure we have ample amounts of service. It also has to be low cost. That’s the pushback we’ll get,” he said. “ We do have it, it could be a cost barrier for a startup."

"We’re sending this RFP to Google and everyone," Ambs said. "As a city, we have to get things kick-started now.”

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Albuquerque looks to create broadband network
City would partner with private company to create system

http://www.koat.com/news/albuquerque-looks-to-create-broadband-network/28161606? 

Published  Sept. 19, 2014

The City of Albuquerque is looking to create a community broadband network downtown.

The city would partner with a private company to create the system, which would provide Internet access to those around Central Avenue between 98th Street and Tramway Boulevard.

Eventually, the city wants to expand the system’s availability to the rest of the city. It says it could provide the service at a lower cost than some private companies.

“We really see this as a catalyst to really start to push the envelope on broadband and high-speed broadband in Albuquerque,” said Peter Ambs, the city’s chief information officer.

The city has a $1 million in bonds it can use for the project but won't know the real cost until it takes a look underground and sees the infrastructure it already has in place. Ambs said Albuquerque is below average for a city when it comes to broadband access and speed.

Ambs sees this as a necessary move to help Albuquerque catch up with other cities and help key projects that depend on Internet access.


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute          www.1st-mile.org  
P. O.  Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM    87504
505-603-5200                 rl at 1st-mile.org
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