I feel as if I only have half the story here, but I’ll share what I know. (I saw the notice on Facebook, funny enough.)
According to a recent St Paul City news flash…
Saint Paul and Ramsey County are joining together in a bid to provide high speed fiber optic connectivity to support the delivery of city and county services to the public. The project is intended to provide a fiber optic network that will serve both city and county buildings with flexibility to expand to other public entities and school districts depending on their needs. The new broadband network would also have a community benefit component.
They posted an RFP looking for a partner to build the network. The proposals are due October 12, 2009.
The city and county are pursuing a grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for the replacement, estimated between $20-25 million. The Recovery Act includes $4.7 billion in funding for broadband initiatives. The private company awarded the contract would match 20 percent of the grant and utilize the second conduit for both their use and also to provide community benefits.
I assume they are thinking about Round 2 RUS funding.
Thanks to John Schultz for sending me more info. I’ll let you contact the city for the full RFP if you want more but here’s a quick excerpt:
City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County are seeking to enter into a Public Private Partnership with a Proposer representing one or more qualified network service providers or other qualified Respondents to support in our efforts to obtain funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), or other funding sources, for the construction of a next-generation fiber optic, broadband infrastructure and to provide a complete implementation of a Community Fiber Network (CFN) and
associated Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County and other Public
Partners.
By: Ann Treacy on September 15, 2009
at 10:43 pm
[...] is slightly different than the others we’ve mentioned today (Blandin, Lake County) in that they didn’t apply for Round One. St. Paul/Ramsey County plan to work with the Minnesota Fiber Exchange on a public-private [...]
By: Update on St. Paul/Ramsey County’s ARRA application « Blandin on Broadband on February 26, 2010
at 5:26 pm