HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 5.2 DUSDFiberOpticsProj
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CITY CLERK
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AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: SEPTEMBER 17, 1996
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Letter from Bob Fasulkey Requesting that the City Investigate
Participation in the Dublin Unified School District Fiber Optics
Project
Prepared by: Steve Honse, Administrative Assistant
SUBJECT:
EXHIBITS ATTACHED:
1. Letter from Bob Fasulkey to the City Council dated July 8,
1996
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept and file report
FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
City participation in the project is estimated to cost $75,000 in
construction costs and an additional $15,000 to $25,000 for
specialized equipment. The total cost for construction and
equipment is estimated to be between $90,000 and $100,000.
DESCRIPTION:
Abe Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) has expressed its intention to build a fiber optics network
~hich will electronically connect each of its facilities together. DUSD currently operates six campuses,
with plans to reopen Dublin Elementary. Additionally, DUSD anticipates that a new school site will be
constructed once development in Eastern Dublin occurs. The purpose of the school district's fiber optic
project is to create high-speed interactive communication links for its faciliti~s and staff, which are spread
out at different locations.
Fiber optics, a relatively new communications technology, consists of very thin strands of glass, about the
thickness of a human hair, bundled in a cable that is about the size of a person's thumb. Computer driven
lasers translate voice and data to pulses of light that are transmitted at an extremely rapid rate. Fiber optic
data transmission is a quantum leap over copper wire technology. Copper wire transmissions can cause
several second delays from origination to destination due to the speed of electricity versus the speed of
light. The speed of fiber optics enables the transmission of graphic imagery. such as real time video (Le.
moving images that accurately and smoothly replicate an event) and telephony (Le. the process of
transmitting and interacting with audio and visual signals). The technology is also highly effective in
creating computer networks that are physically separated. These applications are discussed in greater
detail latter in this report.
The City Council received a letter from Bob Fasulkey, dated July 8, 1996. The letter is attached as Staff
Exhibit "I". In the letter, Mr. Fasulkey requested that the City explore the possibility of participating in the
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. COPIES TO:
tlfrob Fasulkey, Resident; Thomas Baker, General Manager, TCI: John Sugiyama, DUSD Superintendent
ITEM NO.
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fiber optics project with DUSD.A;o, DUSD has expressed an interest iA,ring the City participate in the
project. Staff has explored the ,c~ of City participation and identified th~tential be~efits. The results
are swnmarized below:
COST:
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DUSD policy requires the Fiber Optics Project to be awarded by competitive bid. As a result, it is not
possible to precisely determine the cost for City participation at this time. However, TCI is conunitted to
a city-wide fiber optics project in 1997 to upgrade their cable television system. It is likely that TCI may
be the successful bidder because they can construct the DUSD project at the same time as their planned
work. TCI has also discussed the potential of offering other services on its network. Therefore, the design
of the TCI upgraded system is geared towards having extra capacity available to commercially market to
other users.
Staff discussed with TCI representatives possible costs and benefits of having access and ownership of
fiber optic transmission lines. Based upon TCI estimates, the incremental construction cost, to include City
facilities in the DUSD project, would be approximately $75,000. In addition to construction costs, the
City would be required to purchase telecommunications equipment in order to generate and receive signals.
The cost of this equipment would be between $15,000 and $25,000. A very preliminary estimate of the
total City cost for construction and equipment would be between $90,000 and $100,000. These costs do
not include any expenses associated with maintaining and servicing the network once it is installed.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS:
REAL TIME VIDEO: , .
The primary benefit of fiber optics communications is that its high speed enables the transmission of real
time video images (Le. moving images that accurately and smoothly replicate an event). For example, a
meeting at one facility can be transmitted, over a fiber optic line, to any other facility located on the fiber
optic network. In those organizations that have many remote facilities, such as the school district, real
time video is highly efficient because it allows one speaker to address and interact with an infmitely large
and dispersed audience. The process of interacting with audio and visual signal is known as telephony.
Real time video transmission has been employed by sevetallarge cities and is used by emergency services
for incident evaluation. This technology enables operations to be directed city-wide from a command post
and is especially valuable in large cities during times of natural disaster or civil unrest. In those
circumstances, when 'the area to be served is large and the administration is central, real time video can be
highly effective. However, it is unlikely that the City cotUd derive significant benefit from this technology
for two reasons: First, geographically, the City of Dublin is relatively small. In the event that video is
,required, a video tape can be physically transported anywhere in the City in a matter of minutes. Second,
in order to utilize a fiber optics network, the sender must be physically attached to the network. Typically,
in the case of incident reporting, video tape is recorded"on the scene of the incident The tape must be
transported to a location which is connected to the fiber optics network. As a result, the transmission is
not truly instantaneous and there is no significant improvement in speed or central control.
REMOTE COMPUTER CONNECTIONS:
A fiber optics network could establish high-speed connections that could marginally improve .
Communications from remote City facilities to the Civic Center. At the present time, existing . .
communications links (Le. modem connections from the Shannon to the Civic Center) are adequate for
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City uses without incurring Sigm.t costs. A fiber optics link could offe. opportunity to share
interactive application (e.g. wor essing programs, spreadsheets, etc.) een different sites. While
applications sharing could be a significant benefit for some org~ations, it would be of limited utility for
the City. It is far less expensive to purchase additional application licenses and process data at the remote
.ite than it would be to construct a fiber optic network. .
CONCLUSION:
Fiber optics technology is an emerging technology which could have significant impacts on a variety of
teleconununications activities. However, at the present time, any benefit that could be derived by
constructing a city-wide fiber optics network would be marginal. At this time, these marginal benefits
would not justify the expenditure of $90,000 to $100,000 and the ongoing maintenance responsibilities that
would be required to participate in the DUSD project
In the event that the City requires fiber optic communications in the future, TCI has indicated that they
would lease line capacity to the City. At this time, the cost of that service is uncertain. However, it is
likely that the cost of a lease, if required, would be less than the cost to construct and maintain a
City/DUSD fiber optics network. Based upon past discussions with DUSD Staff, it appears that DUSD is
pursuing construction/ownership of the system due to the availability of school bond funds, which are
restricted to capital purchases. A lease arrangement, as an operating expense, could not be paid for with
school bond funds.
The City may also have rights to access the future TCI fiber optics network, scheduled for completion in
December of 1997, per the existing franchise agreement. It is possible that those rights could be
expanded, if necessary, when the current franchise agreement expires in the year 2001.
aECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council accept and file this report and take no action at this time.
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July 8, 1996
Dublin City Council
100 Civic Plaza
Dublin, Ca 94568
Dear Council Members,
Over the next few months Viacom Cable will be upgrading their cable facilities in our city to high
speed fiber optics. \Vhile working with the teclmology planning team at Dublin Unified School
District, it came to my attention that there is an opportunity for DUSD to share these new Viacom
facilities. This sharing may result in a considerable amount of money In the case ofDUSD,
Viacom was able to reduce their cost of fiber cable by almost $500,000 when compared to the bid
of an independent contractor.
My reason for \\Titing this letter is to urge you to investigate whether or not the City could benefit
from a similar arrangement with Viacom, I can readily envision a city wide communications
network that would allow high speed access to the Alameda County Library' system to do research,
or to have emergency communication where real time video could be used for incidence evaluation.
Ho\\-ever, you must see the need for such communications.
I strongly suggest that you move quickly to ascertain your position. Planning atViacom is
proceeding at a rapid pace and much of their project is scheduled to complete in early 97. Please
take this opportunity to direct your staff to evaluate the viability of working with Viacom to deploy
fiber optic cable to key public facilities An opportunity of this type will not likely reoccur.
Sincerely,
pu? 1u~'L~{
Bob Fasulkey
7776 Topaz Circle
Dublin, Ca.
829-6299
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EXHIBIT 1