Madison – the second largest city in Wisconsin – recently released an RFP to secure a long-term partnership to develop a Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network, reported Community Networks. The city has determined the project will consist of 114,680 residential passings, which includes both single-family and multi-family dwellings; the number of business passings has been calculated at 10,331. The due date for final proposals is October 20.
The city already completed a pilot project, deploying fiber to several low-income neighborhoods. Since state law limits municipal fiber network investments, Madison has decided to partner with a private provider even though the city will retain ownership of the network. And the city has a vision for the work, based on the dark fiber project between Huntsville Utilities and Google Fiber. Madison also wants its partner to take on the task of obtaining access to necessary private easements, reported Community Networks.
Madison’s mission for the project centers on the need to bring gigabit connectivity to every premise in the community. The city has higher unemployment and poverty rates than national averages and it wants to leverage ubiquitous fiber internet access to overcome those challenges. The city is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and eight other colleges, along with manufacturing entities such as Oscar Mayer, French Battery Company, and Olds’ Seed Company, plus healthcare, biotech, and related industries. Madison needs this network to drive economic development and to enable their citizens to excel. Click here to access the full RFP.
Important Dates:
- Deadline for submitting questions to the City: September 22, 2017
- Responses to questions due from the City: October 6, 2017
- RFP responses due: 2 p.m. on October 20, 2017
September 15, 2017
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