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Public Private PartnershipsEstablishing Municipal, City or County Wide Core Broadband Wireless Infrastructures in Urban, Suburban and Rural Areas through Public/Private Partnerships
Back in 2007 a bill was introduced called the Community Broadband Act of 2007. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) among six other Senators.
It states “A bill to promote competition, to preserve the ability of Local Governments to provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes.” It also states that “No State or Local Government statute, regulation, or other State or Local Government legal requirement may prohibit, or have the effect of prohibiting, any public provider from providing advanced telecommunications capability, or services using advanced telecommunications capability, to any person or any public or private entity.” It goes on to state that “Each public provider that intends to provide advanced telecommunications capability or services to the public is encouraged to consider the potential benefits of a public-private partnership prior to providing such capability or services”.
This bill is “dead” and has not become law (as of October 2007). While large Telco and Cable incumbents may have had something to do with why this bill did not reach the Senate or House Floor at least it was an attempt to bring broadband (wireless) infrastructures to our Local Governments, Residents and Businesses in Urban, Suburban and Rural markets.
Now that we are in the middle of a serious recession and the American people and businesses are experiencing the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression it is imperative that our Local Governments, Cities and Communities be able to launch their own core broadband (wireless) infrastructures and receive revenue from such services.
It is also important that public/private partnerships be formed to manage the network, but more importantly, manage the revenues (profit) generated from these services. These monies may be used to fund any number of community outreach programs and/or help to sustain new Economic Stimulus programs from the ARRA that may be initiated by our local Communities, Cities and Counties.
These local public/private partnerships will consist of Local Government officials, key Business Leaders, School Boards, Non-Profits, Chambers of Commerce, Marketing Co-ops, Business Organizations, etc. within the geographical service area where the network will reside. This will ensure that the monies are properly disseminated to manage the network and to programs within the community that need it.
Regardless of whether Local Governments, Cities, or Counties purchase the system outright or take a totally hands off approach by allowing service providers to manage and operate the networks these public/private partnerships will play an integral role.
These ground level Public/Private partnerships are the necessary component to accomplish everything that BTOP, the NTIA, RUS and the Obama Administration are trying to achieve. Most importantly, these partnerships will provide for the transparency and increased public participation that is called for. They will also create a “sense of involvement” by the constituencies involved leading to increased “Social Capital”.
The Process (Formation of the GSA Public/Private Partnership, Public Input, BTOP/State Responsibilities)
Public/Private Partnership Responsibilities:
1. Before any Grant or Loan application can be submitted to BTOP (or the State) the formation of a qualified Public/Private partnership will be required for the Geographical Service Area (GSA) in which the broadband wireless network will be deployed. This Public/Private partnership will include representatives from Local Government, Local Business Leaders, Local Banks, Local Non-Profits, Local School Board Officials, Health Care Officials, Local Public Safety/First Responder Officials, Urban, Suburban and Rural Co-ops, Media/TV, and other individuals or organizations as each GSA will determine. Who better to determine the needs of their GSA than the constituency of that GSA?
2. Once the Local Public/Private Partnership has been formed public meetings will be held to gather information and input from their Citizenry and Local Businesses on specific operating and revenue models and the needs and functionality of the Community, Municipal, City or County broadband wireless network. GSA coverage areas will also be defined and coordinated with neighboring GSA’s.
3. Once these steps have been completed, the Public/Private partnership will issue a Request for Proposal that will be posted on the BTOP website for bid.
4. Once the Public/Private partnership has awarded the contract to a qualifying WISP the contract will be forwarded to both the State and BTOP for approval of appropriate grant/loan monies in conjunction with national institutional and/or local private sector bond issue or investment in the network infrastructure. New Urban and Suburban wireless networks will receive a percentage of BTOP monies based on formulas derived from existing demographics, topography, propagation studies, and participating institutional and/or private sector investment, projected operating revenue and ROI models. Rural networks, which will most likely fall under County Public/Private partnership rules, can still be served under the “20% rule” proposed by BTOP.
BTOP / STATE Responsibilities: Carefully designed and specific criteria will lead to best implementation, monitoring and transparency for BTOP initiatives.
1. Develop standardized RFP models and templates for GSA Public/Private Partnerships to download and work from based upon core broadband services for Urban, Suburban, and Rural markets
2. Develop rules, stipulations, pricing schedules, tax credits for core broadband services based on GSA requirements and coverage areas
3. Develop rules and stipulations for Municipalities/Local Governments
4. Develop rules and stipulations for qualifying Service Providers
5. Develop rules and stipulations for qualifying National Institutional Private Sector Bond Issues and/or Equity Investment (Large Banks)
6. Develop rules and stipulations for qualifying Local Institutional Private Sector Bond Issues and/or Equity Investment (Local Banks)
7. Develop rules, stipulations and funding models for qualifying National Non-Profit Organizations (e.g. NEA, ALA, AACC, NACO, US Chamber, etc.)
8. Develop rules, stipulations and funding models for qualifying Local Non-Profits
9. Develop rules, stipulations, funding models and benchmarks for “For-Profit” Organizations (e.g. Public Utilities to incorporate smart grids, load control, load shedding, etc, Telemedicine to incorporate online services, remote patient care monitoring, etc.)
10. Approve qualified RFP’s from GSA’s and post on publically available BTOP / STATE website under “Bid Opportunities” including required timelines and benchmarks.
11. Disseminate funding in conjunction with Institutional and Local Private Sector Bond Issues and/or Equity Investment
12. Mapping of broadband deployments and backhaul to include GSA Coverage areas, Services by Local Governments, Public Utility Services, School System Services, Public Safety Services, Tourism & Hospitality Services, Destination Market Services, Portal/Marketing Services, Subscriber Costs, Demographics, etc.
13. Develop standardized reporting models and templates for GSA Public/Private Partnerships to download and work from to streamline reporting and transparency to BTOP and the States.
A majority of the ground level tasks and responsibilities will be handled by the Public/Private partnerships formed in which each network will reside. This process will reduce redundant and fraudulent applications, therefore streamlining the application and deployment processes, leading to faster job creation. This represents a fundamental improvement in overall proposed processes.
National Association of Counties
There are 3,141 counties and county equivalents in the 50 States and the District of Columbia. They are categorized as follows:
3,007 entities named “County”
16 Boroughs in Alaska
11 Census Areas in Alaska (for areas not organized into Boroughs by the State)
64 Parishes in Louisiana
42 Independent Cities (1 in Maryland, 1 in Missouri, 1 in Nevada, and the remainder in Virginia)
1 District - the Federal District or District of Columbia.
This does not include Commonwealths and territories with what are generally county equivalents, which are as follows:
Puerto Rico - 78 Municipios
U.S. Virgin Islands - 2 Districts
Guam - 19 Election Districts
Northern Mariana Islands - 17 Districts
American Samoa - 5 Districts
So in essence BTOP would have to process between 3,141 and 3,361 Public/Private partnership applications (GSA RFP’s).
If BTOP were to hold back, let’s say, $2.2B for funding of other initiatives related to broadband initiatives (money for National organizations, non-profits, etc.), that leaves $5B for GSA BTOP initiatives. On average, that equates to $1.5M – $1.6M for each GSA (County) for build out of core broadband wireless infrastructures in conjunction with private sector monies. Of course there would be formulas in place that would determine actual monies available for each Urban, Suburban and Rural GSA based on demographics, number of households, number of businesses, topography, potential market penetration and propagation, amount of private sector investment available, etc. for each GSA.
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