FY 2010 Capital Request Broadband Internet

Grant recipient name (ie. Name of Municipality, School District, or Organization): City of Gustavus

Physical location of project (community name): Gustavus

Project Title (should clearly state what the project is): Community-wide broadband network

Brief Description of Project (1 or 2 sentences): This project will create a last-mile wireless broadband network covering all Gustavus populated areas of the city except Bartlett Cove and capable of delivering at least 3 Mbps both up and down (but limited by upstream Internet service). The new wireless network will connect to the Gustavus Community Network (GCN, the existing self-sustaining municipal Internet Service Provider) and will deliver fast, reliable, affordable Internet access and community networking to Gustavus homes and businesses.

Total Cost of Project from Inception to Completion: (Total should equal the funding request from the State and funding sources secured, requested or needed listed below): $193,000

State Fiscal Year 2010 Funding Request from the State: $183,000

If your project is funded this year, will you be requesting state funding again? (Y/N): No.

Funding Plan

Please list any funding already secured, as well as the year it was secured:

Funding Source	Amount Secured	State FY
Federal Funds
State Funds
Denali Commission
Rasmusson Foundation
Local Funds	$10,000	FY09
Other Funds (explain)

 

Please list any non-state funding currently requested but not yet secured:

Funding Source	Amount Requested	State FY
Federal Funds
State Funds
Denali Commission
Rasmusson Foundation
Local Funds
Other Funds (explain)

 

If you need additional funding to complete this project, please indicate below from whom you intend to secure that funding:

Funding Source	Amount Needed	State FY
Federal Funds
State Funds
Denali Commission
Rasmusson Foundation
Local Funds
Other Funds (explain)

 

Please provide a detailed description and project justification

(approx. a one page summary, attach all other project back up with this form)

Overview and Benefits

This project will improve community health and safety and promote economic development and curb out-migration by delivering affordable, reliable, low-latency broadband Internet access, improving coverage and reliability for the city's emergency services, and allowing other advances in communications such as improved cell phone coverage. It builds on the success of the Gustavus Community Network (GCN), which has been completely self-sustaining since 1996. GCN reserves from subscriber fees will provide the $10,000 in local funds for this project.

The importance of broadband Internet access for economic development and health and safety (i.e. telemedicine) has been well documented. Currently, the best Internet access available in most of Gustavus is satellite service such as StarBand or Hughes Net. These services, however, suffer from high latency, high cost, and low performance and reliability. Due to their slow upload speeds they do not meet the original FCC definition of "broadband" (256 Kbps both up and down), much less the current definition (750 Kbps both ways). This project will deliver true broadband Internet service to the entire community with the exception of the Bartlett Cove area.

A few parts of Gustavus already have high-speed connections to the Gustavus Community Network (GCN), a non-profit Internet Service Provider that has been self-sustaining since 1996, now owned and operated by the City of Gustavus. For example, GCN delivers high-speed Internet access to the Gustavus Public Library, City Hall, and customers in the Salmon River meadow area, but the rest of town has only dial-up connections to GCN, many of which are hampered by sub-standard phone lines, or their own satellite dishes. By the end of FY09 GCN will have low-latency broadband Internet access from AT&T Alascom. This project will allow GCN to share that excellent broadband Internet service with the entire community -- service they cannot get any other way.

Additional benefits of the communications tower provided by this project include better coverage for City of Gustavus emergency communications, better coverage for public radio, and potentially better cell phone coverage and other advances in communications should providers wish to use the new tower facility.

Project Description

This project will erect a multi-purpose 40' communications tower east of Gustavus at an elevation of approximately 550 feet. An equipment hut donated by the Coast Guard will be installed at the base of the tower. This site, part of the Falls Creek hydroelectric project area, has a clear view of Gustavus. Testing conducted during the summer of 2008 demonstrated usable data connections between the site and most parts of Gustavus using 900 MHz radios manufactured by Trango as recommended by Borealis Broadband in its Gustavus wireless design study.

A 900 MHz base station with high-gain sector antenna will be installed on the communications tower and a wireless link established to Gustavus Public Library, the current GCN network center. Then the wireless link for Internet access from AT&T Alascom's facility will be re-aligned to connect to the Falls Creek tower and the network re-configured so the library and GCN gets its Internet access from the tower.

Finally, 900 MHz client premises radios will be installed at homes and businesses throughout Gustavus. Some customers will need external directional antennas. Some customers in westernmost Gustavus will still not have direct access to the base station so repeater stations will have to be installed. Bartlett Cove will not receive a high-speed connection under this project; that will require an additional future effort. This project funds connecting all current GCN subscribers plus about 20 more. GCN has historically had as many as 158 subscribers so there will likely be additional customers wishing to connect after this project is complete. They will pay for the installation themselves, be funded by GCN proceeds, share connections with other customers using inexpensive wi-fi, or be paid for from other grant funds.

The Gustavus Volunteer Fire Department will relocate its base station to the tower to improve coverage for its emergency communications. The facility will be made available to other providers and Juneau public radio station KTOO has already expressed strong interest in siting its repeater there.

Detailed budget

Item	Qty	Price	Amount
Site permits and fees			$500
Site preparation			$1,000
Communication tower package			$4,000
Communication tower shipping			$1,500
Communication tower erection			$2,000
Communication tower and equipment hut wiring and finishing			$1,000
Uninterruptible power system for equipment at tower site			$1,500
Communication tower project management			$2,000
Broadband base station with shipping Trango M900S access point			$2,100
High-gain sector antenna for base station with shipping			$1,400
Broadband base station and antenna installation, configuration, and testing	20 hr	$100	$2,000
Internet backhaul reconfiguration (20 hours to move radio to new tower site and re-configure Alascom P-P link and network routing. Includes estimated Alascom fee of $800)			$2,800
Client premises radios, including shipping: Trango M900S subscriber unit	100 ea	$750	$75,000
Client premises external high-gain antennas for marginal areas with shipping	20 ea	$60	$1,200
Client radio mounting hardware, outdoor installation, configuration, and testing	100 ea	$200	$20,000
Project management for wireless network deployment			$40,000
Administration of CIP grant, purchasing, and accounting, approximately 5%			$8,000
Contingencies allowance: approximately 15% of $178,900 for inflation and other unexpected expenses			$27,000
Project Total			$193,000

 

Please describe the project time-line and when expenditures will occur:

December, 2008 through March, 2009: Final design work, obtain site permit(s).

April, 2009: Order tower using local matching funds

July, 2009: Project manager hired, tower arrives, contract awarded for tower installation

August, 2009: Tower installed, base station and first few client premises radios ordered

September, 2009: Project manager hired for client premises installation. Client premises radios ordered. Base station installed and tested, library connected, Internet backhaul re-configured

October, 2009: Tower installation signed off as complete. First 20 client premises radios arrive. First installations take place.

November, 2009 through May, 2010: Client premises radios installed. Repeaters set up as needed.

June, 2010: This project completed.

July, 2010 and beyond: Pre-existing wireless infrastructure removed. Additional client premises radios installed using GCN, subscriber, or other funds.

Who will be responsible for providing the ongoing maintenance and operation costs?
City of Gustavus dba Gustavus Community Network will manage the new network as they manage the existing network. Revenues will be higher and costs lower (cheaper Internet backhaul, no leased line to city hall, more reliable network, fewer lines for dialup). Administration may be contracted out as it currently is to a computer consulting company.

Grant Recipient Contact Information:

Contact Name: Kapryce Manchester, City Clerk, City of Gustavus
State Tax ID Number: 27-00-85777
Phone Number: 907-697-2451
Mailing Address: PO Box 1, Gustavus AK 99826
E-Mail: clerk@gustavus-ak.gov

Has the project gone through a public review process at the local level and is it a community priority by resolution or other official action by the governing body?

(Y/N): Yes. There have been years of public GCN committee meetings where the current broadband plan was discussed and developed. Broadband Internet access is  a high priority in the city's Strategic Plan. This CIP request has been the subject public hearing at a city council and has been supported by a resolution of the city council (attached).

You must provide documentation (ie. Copy of resolution and/or appropriate letter(s) of support)

 

If your project request has not gone through a public and/or governing or appropriate review process for your community or school district then it may not make it through the Legislative process of approval.

 

If this form is missing information that is not provided in a timely manner, your request will not be able to be included in the FY10 capital project funding requests as we will will not have the information needed to fully support your project should there be questions our office may be asked to answer regarding your project.