Request for Information (RFI) - Last Mile Fiber Deployment in the Town of Blacksburg
I. Introduction and Background
The New River Valley has long been on the leading edge of technology as demonstrated to the
world when the Blacksburg Electronic Village launched in 1993 as the first community to have
access to the internet. Continued success is increasingly dependent on the formation of
collaborative partnerships and, at times, a regional perspective to advance broadband
infrastructure for economic development and quality of life. The Town of Blacksburg and
Virginia Tech have partnered to participate in a number of national broadband initiatives
including GigU and US Ignite.
Established in 1798, the Town of Blacksburg is located between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny
mountains in southwest Virginia, 35 miles south of Roanoke on Interstate 81. The Town is also
home to Virginia Tech, with the university's 30,000 students more than doubling the Town's
population.
The region's government and business leaders have come to the conclusion that advanced
broadband connectivity that is exceptional in its performance and affordability requires working
proactively as partners with localities, the businesses, educational institutions, citizens, and
service providers. In 2013, the Blacksburg Broadband Initiative Steering Committee was
formed, made up of representatives from the Blacksburg business community including the
Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council and the Blacksburg Partnership, the Town of
Blacksburg, the New River Valley Planning District Commission, and Virginia Tech to develop a
gigabit-speed network that can make affordable, high-speed internet available for every home,
business and institution in the community.
A middle-mile broadband network now serves the area with 200 miles of open-access fiber
expandable to 200 Gbps. The network connects to Citizens Telephone Cooperative, Mid-
Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation, and Bristol Virginia Utilities. Citizens
Cooperative acts as the broker and network operator. A number of private broadband
providers are delivering internet service in the Blacksburg community, in addition to publiclyheld
broadband infrastructure owned by the Town of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. However,
none of these offer service approaching the preferred 1 Gbps, symmetrical speed this project
aims to achieve.
A neighboring project to Blacksburg is the creation of the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority
which seeks to build a high-speed, redundant regional network ring as part of its efforts to
improve the broadband availability. These efforts demonstrate a considerable interest in the
local business community, higher education, and public sector to create sustainable high-speed
broadband connectivity in Southwest Virginia that can support an innovative, globally
competitive economy.
To ensure the region's relevance and leadership in broadband connectivity, the Steering
Committee is investigating a proof-of-concept for last-mile and, if needed, middle-mile
deployment of high-speed residential and, potentially, commercial broadband service, using the
Blacksburg community as the initial service area that may be replicated throughout the region
for all who wish to participate.
II. RFI Process and Overview
This RFI is issued as part of the Request For Proposals (RFP) process and seeks information
that the Blacksburg Broadband Initiative Steering Committee can potentially use to develop a
final RFP for deployment of truly high-speed broadband infrastructure that can accommodate
the ever-growing demand for the highest speeds available in symmetrical broadband internet
access. Information is being sought not just from entities that may ultimately bid to construct all
or part of the broadband network, but also from public and private entities that may be
interested in partnering with the Broadband Initiative to contribute assets or provide support
for the initiative in other ways.
Responses to this RFI will be used to develop a proposed model for deploying gigabit service
for the Broadband Initiative and will guide the ultimate investment of public and/or private
resources. This process will also help identify potential partners and interested parties, and
develop a feasible pilot project in the town to deploy high-speed service.
While it is highly recommended that all eligible entities respond to this RFI if they wish to
respond to a future RFP, responses to this RFI are considered non-binding proposals and are
only used to assist the Broadband Initiative as it performs its due diligence and gather
information for planning and specification preparation purposes.
III. Need, Goals and Objectives
The Steering Committee identified several goals for broadband in the region and this pilot
project. As an overarching goal, the committee's purpose is to lay the appropriate groundwork
and begin the process of building a next-generation infrastructure system in the Town of
Blacksburg as part of a larger regional effort to transform the New River and Roanoke Valleys
into an environment conducive to creating and supporting leaders in the knowledge based
economy.
Additionally, they have set goals to:
- Develop an open access fiber-optic network in Blacksburg capable of connecting every
home, business and institution, thus providing affordable high speed (gigabit +) access to all.
- Develop and promote the most technologically advanced internet network possible in the
greater Blacksburg area for the purposes of attracting and retaining innovation-based
businesses, assisting in the ability to conduct research, furthering academic endeavors, and
enhancing residential access/bandwidth.
- Enable local networks to provide our region's citizens with the network performance,
capacity, and connections they need to compete successfully in the global marketplace.
The Steering Committee intends that all relevant partners are brought together at the table,
identifying appropriate phases and determining optimal timing, and coordinating efforts for the
most efficient way to deploy new infrastructure to include leveraging existing resources. The
Steering Committee encourages private sector solutions to develop and manage a gigabit
broadband service in a competitive environment, with the potential for public sector resources
to be employed in support of a solution.
The Town has been participating in broadband discussions for well over a year and has the
population density to make such a pilot project successful. There is an active initiative in
Roanoke for enhancing fiber connectivity for businesses in downtown Roanoke, and these
initiatives will be coordinated through collaboration as each move forward with its respective,
unique model.
The Broadband Initiative is issuing this RFI to gather information, ideas and recommendations
for developing, upgrading, and expanding broadband infrastructure in Blacksburg and improving
access for Blacksburg residents and businesses. The Broadband Initiative views possible
respondents fitting within one or more provider categories as described below.
- Construction: Firms which provide fiber cable installation and required
construction services including, but not limited to, digging trenches and duct banks,
building conduit, pulling cable, erecting facilities, installing initial electronics, and
other functions connecting networks together or to users.
- Maintenance: Firms who repair broken fiber cables, provide replacement fiber, fix
broken aerial structures, replace compromised facility structures, and generally keep
the network's physical elements in working order.
- Network Operator: Firms responsible for the operation of the network including
managing the performance of the switches, servers, software, and data traffic within
the network. The network operator will have the relationship with the network
hubs and interconnections, run the network operations center (NOC), and dispatch
maintenance and other technical resources to provision, maintain, and repair the
network as needed.
- Service and Content Providers: Firms who provide access to the internet,
manage the customer relationship, handle billing, process payments, provide
customer relations, provide technical support, undertake home installations, and
serve as a customer service contact. Also, firms who create and distribute online
content such as news and entertainment, provide hosting and cloud services, and
deliver other internet service and content.
IV. Schedule
The schedule for the RFI process is as follows:
| RFI Release |
November 10, 2014 |
| Providers meeting |
November 10, 2014 |
| Deadline for written questions from potential Respondents |
November 24, 2014 |
| Deadline for answers from committee |
December 8, 2014 |
| Deadline for statement of intent to respond |
December 17, 2014 |
| Responses due |
January 8, 2015 |
| Meetings with Respondents |
February 2015 |
V. How Responses Will Be Used
Responses to this RFI will be used to develop a proposed model for deploying gigabit service
for the Broadband Initiative and will guide the ultimate investment of public and private
resources. This process will also help identify potential partners and interested parties, and
develop a feasible pilot project in the town to deploy high-speed service. Following receipt of
submissions, the Steering Committee will schedule meetings with Respondents to offer
opportunities to elaborate on submissions.
The Steering Committee welcomes ideas and recommendations from all interested or
potentially interested parties, including public, private and community organizations, entities
with a commercial interest in the project, and potential public and private partners who may
wish to assist the Broadband Initiative in development of last-mile and, as needed, middle-mile
high-speed broadband. Potential respondents are encouraged to collaborate in offering ideas
and recommendations.
The Steering Committee intends that all relevant partners are brought together at the table,
identifying appropriate phases and determining optimal timing, and coordinating efforts for the
most efficient way to deploy new infrastructure to include leveraging existing resources.
VI. Specific Requests for Information
In this RFI, the Broadband Initiative Steering Committee seeks comments from Respondents for
the following items. The Steering Committee encourages private sector solutions to develop
and manage a gigabit broadband service in a competitive environment, with the potential for
public sector resources to be employed in support of a solution. Respondents should feel free
to propose alternative business models and network solutions that could be used to meet the
Broadband Initiative's goals.
General Information
- Background information for each organization represented by the submission:
- Name, address, website, type of organization including types of services and
products offered, overview of strengths and abilities of organization.
- Identify a primary contact and contact information including name, title,
organization name, address, phone number, and email address.
- Description of relevant prior organizational experience related to the construction and
management of broadband networks.
- management of broadband networks.
C. Description of currently owned and/or operated infrastructure in the region that could
facilitate achievement of the committee's desired goals.
- Identification of prior and/or current relationship(s) with other entities that could aid in
the achievement of these goals.
Increase of bandwidth
- New network services are constantly driving up bandwidth demand. What is an
appropriate amount of bandwidth for users ranging from in-home use to businesses?
- How can existing fiber be optimized to increase bandwidth capacity for a variety of
users?
- Upload speeds capable of making end users into producers rather than merely
consumers of information are essential. The current level of speed asymmetry found in
many cable and DSL services can be viewed as detrimental to the innovative capacity of
businesses and residential users. Solutions that offer symmetrical bandwidth as a baselevel
option to the business and home users are preferred.
Availability of broadband to all
- What specific steps could be taken to make broadband available to all residents?
- What minimum requirements for services and facilities should be required to ensure
that underserved populations have adequate access to the Internet?
- What is the availability of wireless and wireline broadband services in Blacksburg
including information about any underserved areas?
- Are there areas where it is impractical to require a new entrant to build a network
because businesses or residences already are servable by multiple advanced networks?
What are those areas?
- Does the Respondent have any ideas, proposals and recommendations on how to speed
deployment of wireless and wireline broadband infrastructure so that Internet services
are universally available and existing infrastructure is upgraded or replaced faster than
would occur under a "business as usual" case?
- What could be the retail price range of this service? The steering committee is
evaluating other markets' offerings and pricing.
- Does the Respondent recommend any specific actions prior to network activation that
would ease the transition, especially for users with limited technical expertise?
Encouraging broadband deployment
- Are there ways in which the Town could alter its permitting and contracting practices
that would encourage deployment of advanced facilities? Are there additional steps that
the Town should consider? Respondents are encouraged to provide a description of any
processes, rules or regulations at the local level that could impact the feasibility or
underlying economics associated with the proposed solutions. Submissions should
include an explanation of any forms of proposed regulatory relief, including streamlined
permitting, which could improve the economic case for the business models or network
solutions proposed or for other network solutions that Respon
- What changes would be most valuable?
- Should the Town install fiber or conduit as part of future construction or repair or
roads, or as part replacement of communications system? If it does, can it be assured
that it could recover its costs? How?
- What kind of key customer(s) would be useful in encouraging deployment? What kind
would be of little use in encouraging deployment?
- Are there particular Town service/facility needs that may be of significant value to a
person seeking to deploy all or part of the broadband network?
- Are there particular Town service/facility needs that may be of little value to a person
seeking to deploy all or part of the broadband network?
- How can the Town can facilitate and foster wireless and wireline broadband deployment
through streamlined processes, service contracts, creating partnerships with entities,
making Town-owned assets available to network operators or taking other steps to
leverage and coordinate ongoing infrastructure improvement efforts to reduce network
deployment costs?
Ownership
- Who would own the system under the model? If ownership would be held by one of
several partners, what benefits would other partners maintain for their role(s) in the
creation of the network?
Broadband deployment – interest
- Is Respondent interested in building all or part of a gigabit-speed broadband network?
- Describe your interest.
- What approach might the Steering Committee take to an RFP that would encourage
you to apply to bid to build all or part of the broadband network?
- Does the Respondent have any previous case studies that could provide insight for the
Steering Committee?
- Can the Respondent provide materials on any other municipal networks that have
adopted the approach and/or best practices the Respondent recommends?
Broadband deployment – timetable
- What is the typical duration of a project like this and how would the ultimate timeline
look?
- What actions can be taken to reduce construction time or other elements of project
deployment?
If Respondents have additional suggestions or comments not otherwise utilized in their
submissions, they may be included at the end of their response.
VII. Communications
All general communications regarding the RFI, including the statement of intent to respond or
requests for additional information should be directed to:
Christy Straight, Regional Planner
New River Valley Planning District Commission
6580 Valley Center Drive, Suite 124
Radford, VA 24141
cstraight@nrvpdc.org
Requests for additional information must be submitted no later than
November 24, 2014.
Answers will be provided by
December 8, 2014.
VIII. Delivery of Information
Proposals must be sent by email or via an FTP site (with the link delivered by email by the
submittal deadline). Additional copies of the proposals can also be mailed or hand delivered,
allowing sufficient delivery time to ensure physical receipt by close of business on Thursday,
January 8, 2015. Responses received after this time will not be considered.
Christy Straight, Regional Planner
New River Valley Planning District Commission
6580 Valley Center Drive, Suite 124
Radford, VA 24141
cstraight@nrvpdc.org
IX. Disclaimer
The committee will use information and materials received in response to this RFI to inform
ongoing conversations in the region regarding successful strategies for the expansion of nextgeneration
infrastructure. This RFI should not be construed as a Request for Proposal by the
Steering Committee, the localities involved, or any future public entity created to address this
issue, nor shall this RFI be considered any sort of obligation to any products or services offered
by Respondents. Following receipt of submissions, the committee will schedule meetings with
Respondents to offer opportunities to elaborate on submissions.
No material submitted in response to this RFI will be returned. Submissions in response to this
RFI may be used by the Blacksburg Broadband Steering Committee in any way deemed
appropriate. All submissions are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or
proprietary information submitted by a proposer shall not be subject to public disclosure under
the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; however, the proposer must invoke the protections
of Section 2.2-4342D of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data
or other materials to be protected and state the reasons why protection is necessary. The
proprietary or trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method such
as highlighting or underlining and must indicate only the specific words, figures, or paragraphs
that constitute trade secret or proprietary information. The classification of an entire proposal
document, line item prices and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not
acceptable and will result in rejection of the submission.
