Alexander County requests proposals for broadband assessment, feasibility study
Alexander County, NC is requesting proposals (RFPs) from qualified professional consulting firms to conduct a comprehensive broadband assessment and feasibility study.
The study will include: an assessment of broadband service(s) in Alexander County to identify and evaluate service and/or adoption gaps, and a broadband strategy for Alexander County that creates the greatest opportunity to support current growth and long term community broadband needs including, as applicable, a broadband partnership solution.
The study should provide a reasonable assessment of the needs and opportunities in Alexander County. Additionally, the study should document opportunities to expand last mile coverage as well as express opinions of the sustainability of the expansion including potential one-time and/or recurring third-party funding sources, and a deployment plan that will enable Alexander County and its commercial partners to take advantage of these opportunities in conjunction with broadband friendly public policy development.
The successful bidder will demonstrate their ability to utilize research methodologies such as public surveys, market analysis, business plan development, regulatory analysis, and operational best practice scenarios.
A county Broadband Survey has been completed as of June 2017. The survey, which had 1,954 respondents, provided a detailed inventory and assessment of the communications infrastructure in Alexander County. The survey estimated that 64.54% had no broadband access and 11.52% said they had only mobile access to broadband. In addition, 83.56% said they would be interested in additional broadband service options, and 49.8% said they did not have sufficient speed with their internet service. An additional factor that prohibits many families access is affordability (16.3%).
Questions from prospective applicants are due July 10 by 4:00 p.m. The application deadline is July 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Alexander County is working in conjunction with the Appalachian Regional Commission on this broadband study.
For more information, contact Alexander County IT Director Greg Cronk at (828) 632-1127 or gcronk@alexandercountync.gov. Complete details and application are available in PDF format at www.alexandercountync.gov/broadbandRFP.
