[1st-mile-nm] Cortez, CO Fiber Network update

[Richard Lowenberg]

Cortez Begins Negotiations with Fiber-Optic Company

2.27.19
https://the-journal.com/articles/129356

Cortez is moving closer toward a public-private partnership to bring an 
advanced fiber optic network to every business and resident in the city.

City Council on Tuesday gave staff the green light to begin formal 
negotiations with Allo Communications, a telecom company that has 
engaged in fiber partnerships with at least nine cities in Nebraska and 
one city in Colorado, according to the company’s website.

City Manager John Dougherty said staff will come back to City Council 
with a formal proposal once negotiations are complete.

The city released a request for proposal in December that closed in 
January.

General Services Director Rick Smith said a committee that includes him, 
Dougherty and a representative from Osprey Packs reviewed six proposals. 
They recommended that the city move forward with negotiations with Allo 
Communications.

“We’re just starting negotiations,” Smith said. “It’s not for award 
yet.”

The RFP document states the goal of the program is to “provide an 
advanced telecommunications road” to each business and residential 
location in the city.

The city included a long list of possible services the private company 
could provide, including financing, design, business model, rate 
structure, construction, operations and network maintenance. Smith said 
the negotiations will narrow those services down.

“We are entering into negotiations to see what kind of end proposal 
we’ll have before City Council awards it,” Smith said.

The existing fiber optic Cortez Community Network serves various anchor 
institutions — like schools, the hospital and government buildings — as 
well as some downtown businesses.

According to a broadband feasibility study released by CCG Consulting 
and Finley Engineering in May 2018, a financing structure based entirely 
on a bond issue “doesn’t look feasible” in Cortez, but a sales tax 
increase might work.

The study discussed several scenarios for how fiber could play out in 
Cortez, including offering a low-speed option for free to all homes with 
higher speeds available to those willing to pay.

“This would make Cortez one of the few places to solve the digital 
divide,” the report states.

CCG Consulting then released the results of a residential broadband 
survey in November. The survey found four out of five Cortez households 
reported that they are unhappy with their internet speeds.

Once staff concludes negotiations with Allo Communications, the City 
Council will consider formally awarding the RFP.

An Allo Communications press release states the company recently 
completed a large fiber installation and construction project in 
Lincoln, Nebraska, a city with a population of 285,000.

sdolan at the-journal.com


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