City of Jacksonville Special Studies Committee met June 23.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
Purpose of the meeting was to discuss: Community-wide broadband.
ROLL CALL: The following Committee members were present via teleconference call: Aldermen Steve Warmowski – Chairman, Jeff Hopkins – Vice Chairman, Brandon Adams, Jeff Lonergan, Lori Large Oldenettel; Mayor Andy Ezard; City Attorney Dan Beard; City Clerk Skip Bradshaw. Also in attendance via teleconference call were Aldermen Mike Bartlett, Don Cook, Eren Williams; Emergency Management Director Phil McCarty; Scott Roberts – Khamma Group; Dusty Douglas – Morgan County; Dan Kennedy, Brian Olson and Josh Bradbury – i3 Broadband. A quorum was declared.
Community-wide broadband
Mr. Bradbury disseminated a bullet-point list of the services provided by i3 Broadband, and gave an overview of i3 Broadband as a business and how they will work to serve the residents of Jacksonville in this endeavor. He then discussed the items on the list to include internet, television, phone and wifi services, and general discussion ensued throughout. See attached copy of presentation for more information of the topics discussed.
i3 Broadband will hire 8-12 new, full time support staff at their office in Jacksonville to provide exceptional service in Jacksonville. Benefits to the City and the community include:
100% coverage of addresses within the City of Jacksonville
Project completion by end of 2021
12 strands of fiber in the core of the network connecting all 33 facilities – 19 route miles valued at $1.9M
Lifetime free maintenance, repair, and locating of IRU’d fiber, valued at $7k annually for physical network maintenance, and $7.5k for repairs per occurrence
Free internet and connectivity for life to 33 facilities valued at $396k annually
Projected ROI is approximately 6 years
The initial plan is to begin installation on the west side of town, activating homes as soon as the service becomes available throughout the project. Mr. Bradbury described the logistics of the project from start to finish, including all interaction with the City and residents.
Ald. Adams inquired as to which network is on the table, as i3 Broadband currently offers a 100% 1 gig network or a network that offers up to 1 gig. Mediacom currently offers up to 1 gig of fiber rich network in Jacksonville to 100% of the homes already, and they’re working on a 10 gig connection. He wondered how i3’s proposal is different. Mr. Olson explained that when a network says “up to 1 gig”, they are essentially saying that all users have the ability to impact each other at peak usage times by sharing the bandwidth, the provider does not guarantee that that bandwidth will be available to every resident at all times. i3Broadband does not oversubscribe the bandwidth, and neighborhoods are optically connected back to hardware that is not oversubscribed. At peak times the network is managed in a way that any user has the availability of the bandwidth that they are paying for. Additionally, when a cable company states that they are “fiber rich”, they are saying that they have fiber somewhere in their network, but not fiber to the home. He also stated that what is essentially most important for tele- medicine, or anyone producing content for the internet, is the upload speed. Ald. Adams asked if the shared system mentioned on i3 Broadband’s website would not be a symmetrical system because of the difference in speed on download versus upload. Mr. Olson was not able to provide an answer to that question due to not knowing where that information came from on their website. Ald. Adams also wanted to confirm that the City would have complete ownership of the network after the term of the loan and was advised that he was correct. Discussion ensued regarding the number of strands included in this proposal, which is 12, and how that, plus costs, compare to other communities. Mr. Roberts explained that the 12 strands does not comprise the whole of the network, but are set aside for the City’s use exclusively.
Ald. Adams feels the City has not done their due diligence on this matter and would like to hire a professional fiber consultant to advise if i3 Broadband’s proposal is favorable or to help determine the best option. Ald. Warmowski is not in favor of spending the money to hire a consultant, and feels i3 Broadband has done a good job in determining what is needed for Jacksonville and is cost effective.
Ald. Hopkins asked if local contractors are used for the ground installation/construction work and was advised that they are as much as possible.
Ald. Williams asked about including the school district in this package and was advised that the district already has a provider who they are happy with at this time.
Ald. Warmowski reminded everyone that even if i3 Broadband does contract with the City, residents will still have the option to choose the provider of their choice.
Ald. Cook inquired about utility easements and was advised that if there is a utility easement that i3 can get access to, then they will use that to deliver service to the area. A few of Ald. Cook’s constituents have expressed concern about the location and installation of the cables on their properties. Mr. Olson explained the process of locating and installing the cables, noting that cables are not actually run to the home until the owner signs up for service.
It was noted that Comcast Cable Communications and Cox Communications are the top two competitors in the area.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Questions by the public were answered as follows:
The City is still in the process of coming to a formal agreement with i3 Broadband. The Special Studies Committee will present for approval a recommendation to the Council to proceed with a Memorandum of Understanding with i3 Broadband.
CA Beard confirmed that the $2.5M is an investment that is required by the City and includes service to 100% of the city residents and businesses
There are other municipalities who have provided a financial investment for these same services, terms and conditions were not discussed.
Because i3 Broadband is a television provider, they will be collecting franchise fees.
Ald. Adams asked if i3 Broadband will be the only internet service provider with fiber in Jacksonville, and was advised that they would be the only company in town that provides fiber to the home. Mediacom does fiber to businesses, but not directly to the home. Ald. Warmowski stated that anyone or any business is welcome to offer that service.
With no further discussion, motion was made by Hopkins, seconded by Lonergan, to recommend to the City Council to proceed with a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and i3 Broadband.
ROLL CALL: 3 Yeas (Hopkins, Lonergan, Warmowski); 0 Nays
1 Absent (Oldenettel)
1 Present (Adams) Motion carried 3-0-1-1.
ADJOURNMENT: With no further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m.
http://cms6.revize.com/revize/jacksonvilleil/city_government/city_council_committees/special_studies_minutes/2020%20Minutes/Special%20Studies%20Cmte%20Mtg.%20-%20Internet%2006.23.20.pdf
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