TICC 09-24-20 (Special)TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Special Meeting
September 24, 2020 4:00 p.m.
Teleconference Meeting without a Location
APPROVED MINUTES
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Vice Chair Soundararajan called the meeting to order at 4:06 pm
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present: Naidu Bollineni, Mukesh Garg, Rajaram Soundararajan,
Eliza Du, Ph. D.
Commissioners Tardy: Prabir Mohanty
Commissioners Absent: None
Staff Present Bill Mitchell, Staff Liaison
Speakers: Andrew Afflerbach, Ph.D., P.E., CEO & CTO,
Columbia Telecommunications
Shawn Thompson, Vice President for Analytics,
Columbia Telecommunications
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the commission
on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three (3) minutes a person. In
most cases, state law will prohibit the commission from making any decisions with
respect to a matter not listed on the agenda.
A. None
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
A. None
NEW BUSINESS
1. Receive Fiber Optic Master Plan and Wireless presentation from Columbia
Telecommunications
Andrew Afflerbach, CEO, and Shawn Thompson, Vice President for Analytics,
presented the attached PowerPoint.
TICC SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES September 24, 2020
Andrew and John addressed the following bullet points in the Presentation:
• Assessment of existing Infrastructure
o And other significant infrastructure such as:
Emergency Operation Center
ARKnet Wireless emergency Internet
Smart City pilot (FY21 Work program)
Public Wi-Fi
Traffic Operations Center
Conduit and Handholes
• Fiber Needs Assessment: Needs assessment reflects wide range of Inputs:
o City Project Staff
o Representative of City departments
o Cupertino Communications Risk Report
o Maps of Infrastructure and Facilities
o Cupertino Citizen Corps/ARKnet
o Traffic Operations Center
• Potential fiber use cases:
o 1. Expand Fiber and Wi-Fi Network for City and Public Facing services
o 2. Create resilient Fiber & Wi-Fi network for City and public-facing
services in Emergencies
o 3. Expand Fiber for City use and Lease excess fiber to wireless providers
and large businesses
• Fiber design and cost estimates
• Potential business models: Analysis of three business models identified by the
City
o The City owns and operates the Fiber network
o The City outsources operation and Management of the Network, with
City or third-party ownership – a “commercial Approach”
o A Hybrid Approach
• Dig once policy recommendations
o Reduce pavement cuts
o Preserve limited area within the public right of way
o Capitalize on fiber builds by wireless providers or other excavators
TICC SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES September 24, 2020
o Reduce high cost or fiber construction to add new sites
o Request in-kind contributions of fiber in agreements with Wireless
providers or in exchange for construction in the right-of-way
o City might also pay only the incremental cost for adding fiber strands
during other entities’ fiber construction
Wireless Sitting Processed and Standards
• Baseline for analysis (existing guidelines)
o Wireless Facilities Master Plan
o Guidelines for City owned Poles
o Small Wireless Facility design standards Licensed agreements with service
and infrastructure providers
• City’s achievements
• Changes in Wireless technology and carrier industry
o Need to accommodate processes and designs for all applicants
o Need to review and approve requested modifications to already installed
Small Wireless Facilities in the City
• Recommendations
The Commission and Mr. Mitchell thanked Mr. Afflerbach for the informative
Presentation.
ADJOURNMENT
Vice Chair Soundararajan adjourned the meeting at 5:43 pm.
SUBMITTED BY: APPROVED BY:
/s/ Marilyn Monreal /s/ Rajaram Soundararajan
__________________________________ ________________________________
Marilyn Monreal, Recording Secretary Rajaram Soundararajan, Vice Chair
Attachment A: Fiber Optic Master Plan PowerPoint
CTC Technology & Energy
August 2020
City of CupertinoFiber Optic Master Plan &Wireless Siting Processes & Standards
Fiber Optic Master Plan
2
Overview
3
Assessment of existing infrastructure
Identification of needs for fiber
Potential fiber use cases
Fiber design & cost estimates
Potential business models
Dig Once policy recommendations
Existing Infrastructure
Existing City-owned fiber
5
12.7-mile network interconnects
government buildings & traffic system
Construction leveraged State & federal
funds
Built with Santa Clara County in 2008:
Silicon Valley Intelligent Transportation
System (SV-ITS) project
The City has successfully owned & operated its
fiber network for more than 10 years
The
network
has
created
real value
for the
City
Has offset the cost of leased circuits
Provides more capacity, at a higher level of
reliability and transparency, than commercial
services
Appears to be in good condition, with many
years of useful life
Can scale to higher speeds by upgrading
equipment; has flexibility & capacity to add new
locations 6
Other significant infrastructure
Emergency
Operations
Center
ARKnet wireless
emergency
internet
Smart City pilot
(planned 2021)
Public Wi-Fi
Traffic
communications
center
Conduit &
handholes
7
Fiber Needs
Assessment
Needs assessment reflects wide range of inputs
City project staff
Representatives
of City
departments
Cupertino
Communications
Risk Report
Maps of
infrastructure &
facilities
Cupertino
Citizen Corps/
ARKnet
Traffic
Operations
Center
9
Key fiber need: Replace leased services
Five City facilities
•Blackberry Farms Golf Course
•Blackberry Farms
•McClellan Ranch
•Monta Vista Recreation Center
•Human Resources Department
10
Key fiber need: Construct redundant fiber paths to
City network’s two core sites
City Hall & the Service Center
•Reduce risk of outages on the City’s
network
•Ensure that a single fiber break or loss
of a single site will not cut off the City’s
fiber network
•Critical for City IT operations
11
Key fiber need: Connect 14 intersections
Support traffic operations & enable future Smart City applications
•North Wolfe Road (multiple)
•Perimeter Road & Vallco Parkway
•Miller Avenue & Calle De Barcelona
•Miller Avenue & Phil Lane
•Rainbow Drive at Stelling Road
•Bubb Road & McClellan Road
•Bubb Road & Results Way
•Stelling Road & Greenleaf Drive
•Homestead Road & Heron Avenue
•Foothill Boulevard & Voss Avenue
12
Key fiber need: Connect 13 parks & three
downtown locations
Enable free public Wi-Fi
•Creekside Park
•Franco Park
•Hoover Park
•Jollyman Park
•Linda Vista Park
•Memorial Park
•Monta Vista Park
•Portal Park
•Somerset Square Park
•Sterling Barnhart Park
•Three Oaks Park
•Varian Park
•Wilson Park
13
Key fiber need: Construct fiber to sites used by
Cupertino Citizen Corps (CCC)
Support emergency personnel & free
public Wi-Fi during emergencies
•ARKs
•Fire stations
•Senior Center
•Other sites used by CARES, CERT, & MRC
14
Key fiber need: Construct new fiber segments
Increase City network’s redundancy
•Eliminate single points of failure
•Improve resilience
15
Use Cases
Use cases for fiber & wireless networking
Address the City’s identified needs
Maximize the use & benefit of the City’s existing fiber
Build incrementally on each other
Informed by use cases in other cities
17
Use case 1: Expand fiber & Wi-Fi network for City
& public-facing services
18
Connect buildings & traffic infrastructure
Enable public-facing Wi-Fi
Enable future City monitoring & functionality
Use case 2: Create resilient fiber & Wi-Fi network
for City & public-facing services in emergencies
19
New, resilient fiber routes & power sources
Deliver communications to City staff, Santa Clara County first-responders, & the public
Enable communications during extended power outages, quarantines, post-earthquake recovery periods, etc.
Use case 3: Expand fiber for City use & lease excess
fiber to wireless providers & large businesses
20
Add a revenue-generating element to other use cases
Enable wireless providers to more quickly deploy advanced services
Fiber Design
& Cost Estimate
Cost estimate for expanding the City’s fiber
(use cases 1 & 2): $4.8M -$9.2M
22
Phase Use
Case
Miles of New
Construction Low Estimate High Estimate
Connect City Facilities/
Create Redundancy to Core Sites 1 3.3 $900,000 $1.7 million
Connect Major Traffic Intersections 1 3.3 $880,000 $1.8 million
Connect City Parks & Downtown Wi-Fi 1 6.2 $1.7 million $3.1 million
Use Case 1 Subtotal 12.8 $3.5 million $6.6 million
Add Redundancy to the City’s Fiber Network 2 2.4 $640,000 $1.3 million
Connect CCC Emergency Sites 2 2.5 $700,000 $1.3 million
Use Case 2 Subtotal 4.9 $1.3 million $2.6 million
Total 17.7 $4.8 million $9.2 million
Alternative to fiber construction: Lease dark fiber
Issue an RFI to
fiber providers
May not save
money
Analysis indicates
providers would
need to construct
fiber
Might be good
strategic approach
for connecting
individual facilities
23
Phase 1: Connect City
facilities & create
redundancy to core sites
24
Construct 3.3 miles of fiber to connect
five City facilities & create redundancy
for City Hall & the Service Center
$900,000 to $1.7 million
Phase 2: Connect major
traffic intersections
25
Construct 3.3 miles of fiber
to connect 14 intersections
$880,000 to $1.8 million
Phase 3: Connect parks
& downtown Wi-Fi
26
Construct 6.2 miles of fiber to
connect parks & downtown
$1.7 million to $3.1 million
Phase 4: Expand
network redundancy
27
Construct 2.4 miles of fiber
Could mostly be accomplished without
earlier fiber construction to parks
$640,000 to $1.3 million
Phase 5: Connect CCC
emergency sites
28
Construct 2.5 miles of fiber,
independent of other fiber
expansion
$700,000 to $1.3 million
Potential Business
Models
Analysis of three business models identified by the
City
The City owns & operates the fiber network
The City outsources operation & management of the
network, with City or third-party ownership—a
“commercial approach”
A hybrid approach
30
Analysis of City-owned & operated network
The City has
successfully
owned &
operated its
fiber network
for more than
10 years—&
has created real
value for the
City
The City used best practices in funding & obtaining
value from the network
The network would be more valuable & reliable if
the City had a contract for fiber outside plant
repairs
The City may wish to consider leasing or trading its
limited excess fiber capacity
The high cost of fiber construction in the City
means connecting new facilities may not be cost-
effective
31
Analysis of full commercial approach
It is not clear
that a fully
commercial
approach
would address
the City’s
challenges or
open new
opportunities
The City could seek to sell its fiber or provide
a long-term lease to an entity to maintain
the fiber & sell & operate the unused fiber
The City may obtain revenue or a one-time
windfall of less than $2M in transferring the
asset
This would be technically challenging &
would likely produce relatively little value to
the City
32
Analysis of hybrid approach
The City can
realize some
advantages of
commercializing
the fiber by
adopting a
mixed approach
Trade excess fiber for strands the City wants, & offer
fiber for lease if the City believes it does not need the
excess capacity on a route & is technically able to
commit to commercial performance standards
Develop a Dig Once policy to cost-effectively expand
fiber if new opportunities come from new
construction—either by the City or by other
communications providers & utilities
Incorporate fiber build cost in City capital projects
such as new buildings—so that fiber location
becomes a factor in facilities’ locations
33
Recommendation: Hybrid approach
City maintains
ownership of fiber
City contracts with on-
call repair company
Repairs occur within a
specified time
City considers leasing
fiber strands instead of
building fiber to new
locations
Fiber construction
decisions guided by
comparison of total
cost of operations (City
vs. provider)
34
Dig Once
Recommendation
Dig Once could deliver a range of benefits
Reduce high cost of fiber
construction to add new
sites
Capitalize on fiber builds by
wireless providers or other
excavators
Reduce pavement cuts
Preserve limited area within
the public right-of-way
Request in-kind
contributions of fiber in
agreements with wireless
providers or in exchange for
construction in the right-of-
way
City might also pay only the
incremental cost for adding
fiber strands during other
entities’ fiber construction
36
Wireless Siting Processes &
Standards
37
Overview
38
Baseline for analysis (existing guidelines)
City’s achievements
Changes in wireless technology & carrier industry
Recommendations
Existing standards & guidelines analyzed
Wireless Facilities
Master Plan
Guidelines for City-
owned poles
FAQs for wireless
facilities on wooden
utility poles &
streetlight poles
Small Wireless
Facility design
standards
License agreements
with service &
infrastructure
providers
Also benchmarked
against City of Palo
Alto’s processes
39
Achievements in wireless siting
The City has
accomplished
significant gains
since the
adoption of its
previous
Wireless
Facilities Master
Plan
City developed Small Wireless Facility design
standards that outline requirements to potential
applicants
City staff maintain ongoing, informal
communications channels with applicants &
share long-term plans to mutual benefit
City has approved permits for wireless facility
siting in locations agreeable both to applicants &
the City
No unresolved issues relating to damage to the
City’s rights-of-way or private property
40
City’s current process for wireless facility siting
application review & approval
City has transparent process
•Ensures that members of the public
are aware of applications & related
radio frequency (RF) emissions
assessments
•Ensures applications are reviewed in a
reasonable amount of time (in light of
FCC requirements)41
Changes in wireless technology & the carrier industry
will require the City’s processes & standards to evolve
Need to accommodate
processes & designs of all
applicants
Need to accommodate
providers’ interest in placing
infrastructure in
neighborhoods
Need to accommodate a
greater volume of
applications within the 10-
day requirement for
determining each
application’s completeness
Need to review & approve
requested modifications to
already-installed Small
Wireless Facilities in the City
42
Recommendations
Develop application
forms that request all
necessary
information
Modify the City’s
exiting application
review process to
increase efficiency
Adopt clear technical
& aesthetic standards
for wireless facility
siting
Conduct a cost
analysis to justify the
City’s application fees
& yearly fees
43
Elements presented to support recommendations
General definitions related
to Small Wireless Facilities,
applications, review
processes, & standards
Detailed descriptions of
application type &
requirements
Detailed descriptions of
separate application review
processes, including a
process flowchart &
modified personnel roles
Detailed aesthetic &
technical standards for
wireless facilities
Draft standard pre-
approved designs
Draft fields for expanded
applications
A site completion checklist Lists of tasks by process
44
Wireless siting review process
Standard streetlight designs and conduit typical