4. Scandia_Internet_RFP
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FIBER TO THE PREMISES (FTTP) PARTNERSHIP
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FIBER TO THE PREMISES (FTTP) PARTNERSHIP
Scandia, Minnesota
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION
The City of Scandia, Minnesota is soliciting proposals for the selection of a partner(s) to work with the
City to bring next generation communication services to our businesses and residents over a middle
mile broadband backbone infrastructure including but not limited to a fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP)
broadband network. Submitted proposals should include all of the following requirements listed within
this Request for Proposal (RFP) to ensure that our 4,000 residents (roughly 2,000 locations),
businesses, and community organizations have access to sustainable, leading edge broadband services.
Submittals will be accepted no later than TBD. Submissions must be made via emailed to
n.soltis@ci.scandia.mn.us
SECTION 2 – BACKGROUND
Scandia, Minnesota believes that affordable, high-speed broadband services are essential to support the
needs of our residents, businesses, and anchor organizations throughout the Community. The City is
requesting proposals for a community wide next generation broadband network. The goal of the
partnership is to use the strengths and assets of each entity to negotiate a balanced partnership that is
equally beneficial to the network end user, the city, and the selected provider.
SECTION 3 – PUBLIC PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIP
The City seeks a partner to design, engineer, project management, build and operate a citywide fiber
to the premise network with ten gigabit speeds to all addresses by 2026 in alignment with the MN
Office of Broadband Development1. Scandia desires to have some level of ownership and control of
the fiber network, where possible and reasonable within the partnership, but wants to partner with one
or more companies to maintain, operate and provide services on the network. Scandia desires to have
a partnership with a service provider that can share revenue in a manner that helps expand the
network and that provides positive long-term financial benefit to the City.
SECTION 4 – SCOPE OF WORK (SOW)
The City is willing to invest in the design and construction of a fiber optic broadband backbone to
interconnect key City sites, providing high-capacity, and redundant fiber for internal operations and to
support future utility needs. Furthermore, the City is seeking a partner to assist with the design and
engineering, build out, and maintenance of a public fiber optic network; and invest, build out, and
1 It is a state goal that (1) no later than 2022, all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to high -speed broadband that provides minimum
download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second and minimum upload speeds of at least three megabits per second; and (2) no later than 2026,
all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to at least one provider of broadband with download speeds of at least 100 meg abits per second
and upload speeds of at least 20 megabits per second. https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/goals/
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FIBER TO THE PREMISES (FTTP) PARTNERSHIP
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maintain the last mile to complete the fiber-to-the-premise broadband network. The City also seeks a
partner able to provide customer service and technical support for future customers. The full scope of
work contemplates three (3) phases; design, engineering, and construction. All phases of design,
engineering and construction are to be complete within a reasonable period and identified in the
proposal. The breakdown of the three phases are detailed below:
4.1 Design and Engineering
The City is seeking a partner that can design and engineer a fiber to the premise network. This
network will require two path diverse connections for middle mile connectivity including a
connection to the nearest dedicated IP Transit (IPT) connection. Also required is an engineered
design to extend fiber from said network to all addresses within the City limits to connect
residents, businesses, and anchor institutions to internet services with capabilities ranging from
1 Gbps through 10 Gbps symmetrical dedicated internet service.
Responsibilities of the partner will include activities required to undertake and accomplish a
full and complete project design, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Conducting and attending meetings and design conferences with the City to coordinate
or resolve design matters.
2. Preparing detailed design and construction plans, technical specifications, and documents.
3. Developing design schematics, sketches, environmental and esthetic
considerations, project recommendations, preliminary layouts and cost estimates.
4. Recommending methodologies for conduit placement such as boring, trenching,
micro trenching, or plowing and should include estimated cost for each option.
5. Providing strategy for connecting residential properties. (i.e. neighborhood
microwave technology or direct connections)
6. Providing copies of plans, specifications, and contract documents for review.
7. Preparing necessary engineering reports.
Design Phase Expectations
1. The City shall remain fully engaged in the design process, able to provide input, able to
understand the design approach and rationale, and able to adjust the approach as the
project proceeds.
2. Network design must include redundancy.
3. The design phase shall include discussions about build options related to potential funding
received from the State of Minnesota.
• If funding is received from sources it will not cover construction of a fiber
network to areas considered “served” by broadband. Respondents to the RFP can
provide estimates with this consideration on construction completion and
timelines.
4. The design specifications should contemplate aerial vs buried and should be designed in
the most cost-effective manner for both the short and the long term. The partner shall
make a recommendation regarding construction method.
4.2 Construction
This phase includes all basic services of a construction contract, including, but not limited to the
following:
1. Acting as project manager for all construction phases.
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2. Preparing construction management plan and reviewing of contract construction
schedule.
3. On site construction inspections and management, involving the services of an inspector
or manager, full time or periodically during the construction or installation phase of the
project as required by the City.
4. Observing or reviewing performance test(s) required by specifications.
5. Making final inspections and submitting a final construction report for the completed
project to the City.
The network construction includes phases and are shown in order of importance, those
include:
1. Construction of or acquisition of a connection to the IPT and an additional middle mile
provider or path diverse route to IPT.
2. Business and Industrial Areas
3. Residential neighborhoods
4. Residential neighborhoods already considered “served” by Broadband
Construction phase expectations:
1. Construction should commence as quickly as possible after receiving notice to do so, and
work should be done in a timely manner as to fully support the completion of the project
within the construction timeline.
• The project is seeking state funding; construction plans should be made in
accordance with the need to spend funds within the specified time limit.
2. As available, fiber drops should be installed, and fiber should be lit to expedite service to
end users.
4.3 Minimum Mandatory Requirements
Attachment A shows the Minimum Mandatory Requirements for the proposed solution and
partnership. Vendors that do not meet these minimum requirements will not move forward in
the evaluation process and will not have the rest of their proposals reviewed.
4.4 Service
This phase includes the partner assuming the operations and maintenance functions of and
delivery of services to the residents and businesses. The service phase includes but is not
limited to:
1. Funding the drops, wireless distribution, and equipment needed to provide
retail broadband services to residents, businesses, and community
organizations.
2. Operating and maintaining functions of the network by providing all
management functions of the infrastructure.
3. Providing an estimated maintenance schedule for the fiber network to the City.
4. Providing competitively priced retail services.
5. Providing billing and provision assistance.
6. Ability to provide 1 Gbps or faster service to all end users with future
enhancement capabilities.
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Service expectations:
Please see Attachment C for required responses to service level responses.
1. The City expects Gigabit to the with a monthly cost expectation that includes both the
fiber line cost and Internet Service Provider (ISP) cost.
2. The selected provider will be the face of the project to the customer. They will install
equipment and services into the customer premises, maintain the equipment and
services, provide end customer service, provide equipment and service upgrades, and
generally be responsible for customer service and satisfaction.
4.6 Timeline
The suggested project timeline proposed by the City is as follows:
RFP Submission Period January 7 - February 1 2019
DEED Grant Submission Deadline September 1, 2019
DEED Grant Funding Award Dates December 2019
Contract and Partner Negotiations February – April 2019
Design and Engineering Phase May – July 2019
Construction Phase January 2020 – March 2021
Completion of project. (Fiber to every home) March 2021
Through the engineering and design process, the project timeline is subject to change. Any
submitted timeline proposals should include a timeline for the design, engineering, and
construction phases of the project broken down into a number of major milestones. It is the
expectation of the City that a substantial amount of construction will be completed within
12 months of start date and will be required to be completed within 18 month of any
funding received by the State of Minnesota.
4.7 Partnership Considerations
The City is investing in this project to enhance the infrastructure of the City and to cater to the
needs of our businesses, community organizations, and residents to be determined based on
proposal.
Partner Contributions
City contributions include:
1. Access to City Street and Alley Right-of Ways
2. Access to City Infrastructure and Utility Poles
3. Ability to expedite right-of-way permitting for identified partner
4. Ability to expedite pole attachments for identified partner
5. Potential financial contribution
6. Authorization to negotiate rates for leased bandwidth
Partner assets should include:
1. Design and engineering expertise and capabilities
2. Construction experience, expertise, and capabilities
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3. Financial and other resources necessary to complete the build out and operate the network
4. Ability to act as service provider
5. Maintenance capabilities for broadband/fiber network
6. Other assets not included to be identified by partner
4.8 Partnership Proposal
Please describe your proposal to the ideal roles of each party in the private-public partnership
with Scandia. Please describe what level of ownership and/or control your partnership will
provide the City over the completed network. Please describe how your partnership will limit
the amount financial impact and risk to the City.
In addition to your proposed description of the partnership, please use Attachment B, the
Responsibility Assignment Matrix, to illustrate your proposed partnership. Vendors should
indicate the expected roles in the partnership with the City using the RACI model. R =
Responsible. A = Accountable. C = Consulted. I = Informed. Vendors should indicate exactly
one A (Accountable) for each role. In the Responsibility Assignment Matrix, unless otherwise
noted with an R (Responsible), the Accountable party will also be the Responsible party.
All parties are advised that some of the services listed in Attachment B may not be required and
the City reserves the right to initiate additional procurement actions for any services not
included in the initial procurement and/or partnership.
The fourth column labeled “City’s Representative” in Attachment B is an independent third-
party agent working on behalf of the City to ensure that their interests are represented in the
construction of the network.
SECTION 5 – COST PROPOSAL
The vendor must submit a separate cost proposal allowing costs to be evaluated independently of
other technical, scope, or project criteria in the proposal. Inclusion of any cost or pricing data within
the technical proposal may result in your proposal being deemed as non-responsive.
The Cost Proposal must be attached as a separate document and identified as “Cost Proposal” with
your company. The following formula shall be used to determine the cost score to the City and
subscriber: Weight Rating Percentage*((2-(proposed cost/lowest proposed cost)). The following
formula shall be used to determine the investment score by the partner: Weight Rating
Percentage*(proposed investment/highest proposed investment).
The Cost Proposal Form Attachment C included in this RFP must be completed and submitted for
your proposal to be considered.
Please include with the following with your Cost Proposal Form:
1. A funding plan and description on the sources of planned costs either to the partner or the
City and how your plans limit costs to the City or the taxpayer. The plan should include
funding expectations and capital investment.
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2. The past two fiscal years of audited financial statements to demonstrate financial
strength, including a complete list of partner assets.
SECTION 6 – SELECTION PROCESS
A short list will be developed from submittals received. Upon review each company will be asked to
attend an interview for the City to hear proposals, and to make a final partner selection. A schedule
of fees will then be negotiated with the selected partner for services to be performed.
SECTION 7 – PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT
The Proposals should include
1. A cover letter.
2. Partnership plan describing in detail the anticipated relationship between the City and
proposer.
3. Business and technical plan describing its approach to the project described in this RFP. The
business plan shall describe the Provider’s approach to design, construction, operation and
management of the Network and the services to be provided over the Network in sufficient
detail to allow the City to effectively consider the proposal.
4. Discussion of the anticipated middle and last mile deployment strategy, last mile phases,
scope and timing of the proposed rollout. The discussion should identify the levels of
committed demand necessary to trigger rollout obligations and any factors likely to influence
the scope or timing of the rollout and explain how those factors impact the strategy.
5. Establish timelines for project milestones.
6. Broadband service offerings (type of broadband service, speed tiers, differences between
business and residential offerings). See Attachment C.
7. A completed Cost Proposal Form, funding plan, and financials as described in Section 5.
8. Submittals must contain the name, address, email, and daytime telephone number for
the individual authorized to enter into a contract with the City.
9. In addition, all submittals must be submitted in a PDF format via a link to OneDrive, Dropbox
or other cloud-based storage platform. Email to broadband@kaysvillecity.com with “Proposal
for Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) Partnership” in the subject line and the link to your proposal
with your contact information in the body.
10. Following the selection process, the proposal for the selected Proposer shall be made available
for public review, except for any items that the Proposer has requested, in writing, to remain
confidential under applicable law.
The City invites interested parties to submit proposals to perform the above-described services.
Respondents should submit proposals via Email no later than Monday, October 22, 2018
2:00PM MT.
SECTION 8 – REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION
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All questions about the meaning or intent of this request are to be submitted to the Information Systems
Manager in writing via BidSync. Questions received less than seven (7) calendar days prior to the date
for submission deadline will not be considered. Interpretations or clarifications considered necessary by
Information Systems Manager in response to such questions will be issued by Addenda and made
available to all parties upon request via BidSync.
SECTION 9 – PROPOSAL EVALUATION
The criteria to be used to evaluate proposals, listed with their relative weight in points are as follows:
Mandatory Minimum Requirements: Responses to Attachment A – Mandatory Minimum
Requirements will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis. Vendors that do not meet these minimum
requirements will not move forward in the evaluation process and will not have the rest of their
proposals reviewed.
Technical Proposal Requirements:
CRITERIA POINTS POSSIBLE
Capability to perform all aspects of project 25
Presented costs to City and Fiber Customers and ability to meet schedules
within budget
25
Proximity and availability of key personnel to City’s customers 15
Demonstration of desire and commitment to developing a successful
partnership
10
Degree to which the response accomplishes the project’s goals 10
Demonstration of collaborative approach to project 5
Familiarity with the project location and understanding of the City and
proposed project
5
Strong sense that Proposer is genuinely interested in the Scandia community
and providing quality services now and in the future
5
TOTAL 100
SECTION 10 – GENERAL PROVISIONS
The City herein expressly reserves the following rights:
1. To negotiate separately with any source whatsoever in any manner necessary to serve the
best interests of the City. The City does not intend to award a contract solely on the basis of
any response made to this request for proposals or in any way to pay for information
solicited or obtained. The information obtained will be used in determining what seems to
best serve the interest of the City.
2. To consider the competency and responsibility of proposers and of their proposed sub
consultants in awarding any contract.
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3. To make the award based on the City’s best judgment as to which proposal best meets the
City’s expectations of a project of the highest quality and innovation.
4. To negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract, including but not limited to the statement
of work and contract price, in order to meet the City’s project expectations.
5. To make such changes or correction in plans, specifications or quantities of the RFP as City may
deem necessary or desirable during the RFP process. It is Proposer’s responsibility to monitor
the RFP throughout the RFP and subsequent processes.
6. The right to withdraw the entire project or any Project Element(s) from award consideration if
it is in the best interest of the City to do so.
7. To select, assign, and remove partner(s) from the Network Operator role.
8. Besides retaining ownership of initial and future infrastructure, City will maintain suggestion
and approval rights.
9. Submit any responses, or refusal to respond to the RFP as part of the package to request funding
to the State of Minnesota as evidence of response from existing operators in the area.
A short list may be developed from submittals received. Upon review, some companies may be asked
to attend an interview for the City to hear proposals, and to make a final partner selection. A schedule
of fees and contract would then be negotiated with the selected partner for services to be performed.
Scandia reserves the right to skip the interview process and choose a consulting partner without
conducting interviews.
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INSERT City Standard Terms and Conditions for procurement for Services
INSERT City Standard Terms and Conditions (Request for Bids / Proposals)
INSERT if needed, Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement
INSERT Map from CTC of City - assume this is public information that city paid for and can be included
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FIBER TO THE PREMISES (FTTP) PARTNERSHIP
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Attachment A
Vendor:
Date:
Instructions: Vendors should respond to the following questions by marking an "x" in either the yes or no
column. Vendors that do not meet these minimum mandatory requirements will not move forward in the
evaluation process.
No Question Yes No
1
Can you or you affiliated partners provide Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) solution to
residents and businesses in Scandia, Minnesota?
2
Can you or your affiliated partners provide Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) in Scandia,
Minnesota using existing fiber backbone infrastructure?
3
Can you or your affiliated partners reserve appropriate quantities of fiber strands
in the existing fiber backbone infrastructure for Scandia business use and its own
private network?
4
Can you or your affiliated partners provide symmetrical internet speeds up to 10
Gbps on a dedicated fiber connection to residents and businesses in Scandia,
Minnesota by 2026?
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Attachment B
Vendors should indicate the expected roles in the partnership with the City using the RACI model. R
= Responsible. A = Accountable. C = Consulted. I = Informed. Vendors should indicate exactly one A
(Accountable) for each role. In the Responsibility Assignment Matrix, unless otherwise noted with
an R (Responsible), the Accountable party will also be the Responsible party.
Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) in Scandia, Minnesota
Vendor:
Date:
Instructions: Vendors should indicate the expected roles in the partnership with the City of Scandia
using the RACI model.
R = Responsible. A = Accountable. C = Consulted. I = Informed.
Vendors should indicate exactly one A (Accountable) for each role. In this Responsibility Assignment
Matrix, unless otherwise noted with an R (Responsible), the Accountable party will also be the
Responsible party.
Function or Role Partner
Partner's
Affiliates Scandia
City's
Representative
Funding
Project Management
Permitting & ROW
Design/Engineering
QA/QC on Design/Engineering
Warranties on Design/Engineering
Construction
QA/QC on Construction
Warranties on Construction
Network Operations & Upgrades
Customer Service
Internet Service Provider (ISP) N/A
Billing & Provisioning
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Attachment C
Service Expectations Questions:
1. Please describe the service level expectations for City, business owner, and home owner.
2. Please describe the expected response time to a service level disruption.
3. Please describe the expected recovery time to a service level disruption to most common outages.
4. Please describe the expected support level the City can expect from your service to the home and
business owner.
5. Please list the Internet Service Providers you can provide to the consumer of fiber internet.
6. Please list the locations of customer service call centers and support locations.
7. Please list the suggested customer plan options and associated monthly costs.