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5 STAFF REPORT To: Mayor and City Council Report No.: Mike Mornson, City Manger From: Kim Moore - Sykes, Assistant City Manager Date: May 31, 2007 Subject: Strategic Connectivity Plan Proposal — Columbia Telecommunications Background: On March 9s', Staff met with Cheryl Johnson and Tom Asp, Columbia Telecommunications, which came as the result of discussions between Council and staff at the annual goal setting retreat. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss developing a connectivity strategy/ plan for the City of St. Anthony, which is both long -range in scope and conservative in its financial assessment of installation requirements and future technological needs. City Council expressed an interest in investigating the possibility of putting together a strategic connectivity plan that would assist the City in the establishment of policy for high speed broadband Internet accessibility that is affordable for the community. This plan would also identify challenges and opportunities; resources, threats, and objectives. Columbia Telecommunications was contacted because they had originally submitted a proposal to the City to determine the feasibility and affordability of installing a wireless Broadband network, again to provide affordable access to the Internet for those populations in the City that are either underserved or not served by any Internet service provider. Ms. Johnson and Mr. Asp, through their research, established in their initial report that the installation by the City of a wireless Internet throughout the community would be prohibitively expensive. Their recommendation at the time was to partner with private firm or other surrounding communities, i.e. members of the North Suburban Cable consortium. At about the same time, the North Suburban Cable Commission (NSCC), interested in the possibility of installing a region -wide wireless Broadband Internet system available to their member cities, approved hiring Columbia Telecommunications to do a feasibility study for the 10- city consortium, assessing the feasibility of establishing a region -wide wireless internet system that would meet the needs of the area and the cost of that installation.* Issues: While both of the City's proposals from Columbia Telecommunications overlap in some recommendations and suggestions, they are conceptually different. The first study (4/7/06) was done basically to determine how feasible it would be for the City to go on its own in providing the infrastructure to achieve wireless internet accessibility for anyone or business in the community. The second and most recent proposal from Columbia is to assist the City in developing a strategic connectivity plan to facilitate the eventual installation of a wireless system. 2007 Wireless Strategic Connectivity Plan.doc