HomeMy WebLinkAbout6A Fiber Consultant for Scott CoCITY OF PRIOR LAKE
With Frank Boyles, City Manager, and Kelly Meyer, Assistant City Manager
Scott County fiber currently provides internet service to Prior Lake City Hall.
Lacking any fiber of its own, the city relies upon an Integra T1 line for
connectivity to its maintenance facility. City staff utilizes GIS and Cartograph
asset management software at this location, thus large files are uploaded and
downloaded to the internet fairly frequently. Mediacom serves the city's pair of
fire stations and water treatment facility with coaxial cable. The water treatment
facility, however, is equipped with conduit and would be a relatively easy and
inexpensive fiber drop as part of future fiber deployment. Existing franchise
agreements call for free drops and cable service to all city facilities, including the
senior center. The city is not sure of actual bandwidth capacity to these facilities,
and it receives complaints from the public about Mediacom service "every day."
The city reports a "very smooth" experience with the initial Scott County fiber
build in 2008; the city has had no problems with the network or Access
Communications since.
Interestingly, the city notes a market study conducted by Decision Resources
indicated that Prior Lake, Credit River and Spring Lake townships include over
400 home -based businesses. Although bandwidth demand for such businesses
can vary widely, this group represents a segment of the population that could
benefit greatly from improved service and competition in the local broadband
market.
Impact of Scott County fiber:
In addition to providing Prior Lake City Hall with access to 100MB symmetrical
internet service, Scott County fiber had saved the city an estimated $60,000.
Direct internet connectivity to neighboring communities also allows for
collaboration. Currently, Prior Lake provides certain IT services and support to
City of New Prague on a contract basis.
Facilities not connected to fiber:
Maintenance Facility
Fire Stations 1 and 2
Water Treatment Facility
Lift Stations and Water Towers
Providers serving area homes:
Integra Telecom
Mediacom Cable
Qwest DSL (in north only)
DISH Network
Franchise agreements:
Integra Telecom
Mediacom Cable
Opportunities:
Perhaps more than any other community in Scott County, Prior Lake maintains
that it is "very interested in change" to its current broadband landscape. The city
stressed a strong "desire to get more out of fiber," wants to see additional
broadband competition to improve market performance, and is open to exploring
various municipal broadband approaches. At present, the city would like to learn
more about its potential options, inviting additional outreach and education both
to city staff as well as to the city economic development authority and council.
In addition, the city is interested in added IT efficiencies and recommends
thorough examination of possible areas for collaboration. Specifically, the city
identifies the potential for sharing resources, such as GIS, Cartograph or financial
software. The city also raised the idea of pursuing a shared help desk or
contracting out IT support. Prior Lake's city council has expressed an interest in
examining the costs and benefits of VOIP, and the city would welcome
information and potential collaboration.
Lastly, the city recognizes that future realignment of CR 21 could provide
opportunities for laying conduit for a future fiber build in Prior Lake. The city
recently met with representatives from Hiawatha Broadband Corporation, a
potential third -party internet service provider with a board member residing in
Prior Lake who is personally interested in improved internet service. However,
continued dialogue is not planned at this time as HBC is currently investing its
limited resources elsewhere; nonetheless, the provider would be open to future
talks with the city.