Public/Private Initiative for Communications Infrastructure in Chicago

The City of Chicago today unveiled the next step of Chicago CivicNet, which will provide a foundation for the Internet economy of the 21st Century. CivicNet leverages $320 million dollars in City spending over ten years, and additional millions in existing City resources, to provide incentives to the private sector to accelerate the development of high-speed communications to Chicago neighborhoods. A Request for Qualifications has just been issued in which the City is seeking to partner with companies to make CivicNet a reality.

The goal of CivicNet is to create the new infrastructure Chicago needs to compete for jobs, to improve education, to train the Internet work force, and to eliminate digital divide.

Does that mean Chicago will be in the phone business? Not at all. But what it does mean is that Chicago is taking steps that are appropriate for a government - such as building roads and highways and water and sewer systems. To compete in the Internet age, a whole new infrastructure is needed - one that can carry high speed communications.

How will it work? CivicNet aggregates the business of all the City agencies, including the Schools, City Colleges, Park District, Housing Authority and Transit Authority, and positions their $32 million annual spending for voice and data communications in the role of anchor tenant. The City also owns or has access to valuable resources such as tunnels and conduits that can dramatically lower the cost of bringing high-speed fiber to City neighborhoods. Using sewer pipes for fiber installation, for example, cuts in half the cost of digging up the streets and trenching, and has the added benefit of not disrupting traffic or diminishing the integrity of the street surface. Other City projects can also prove relevant; such as when streets are resurfaced or new water mains are installed, and conduits can then be added at the same time. Space inside City buildings will be made available for node sites.

The Request for Qualifications contains detailed information on the combined voice and data needs at 1,600 locations of the City agencies, and also on the resources controlled by the City that can be made available to companies to build out CivicNet.

And in its role as anchor tenant, the City is offering the opportunity to other users of communications to join together under the CivicNet banner and take advantage of improved services. Businesses and corporations within the City, and banks and healthcare organizations, will have the opportunity to get fiber connections to their locations, and similar services will be offered to non-profit institutions and community organizations. To date, companies that spend a combined $14 million annually have expressed potential interest in utilizing services that the CivicNet companies will make available. Rather than build a network just for the government, CivicNet is about building an infrastructure that everyone can use, including a vendor-neutral or carrier's carrier element.

With these aggregated communications needs of the public and private sectors, CivicNet provides a big chunk of business for current and potential communications providers. Companies interested in partnering with the City in this endeavor, either as providers or as fellow customers, are asked to pick up a copy of the RFQ at the Purchasing Department's Bid and Bond Room, 301, in City Hall. Their phone number is 312-744-9773. Further details are provided in the attached document.

What the City envisions, ultimately, is a consortium of private sector companies, large and small, fiber and wireless, cable and equipment, working with each other and the City to make CivicNet happen. Toward that end, the City seeks partners to build, manage, operate, and market CivicNet to other entities in the public and private sectors. As the infrastructure is built, the City's private sector partners will be able to offer improved services to every neighborhood, and eventually down every street. By aggregating City business and by encouraging access to City resources, the City can help business do what business does best - to bring the fruits of new technology to our schools and businesses and neighborhoods, faster than would have otherwise been possible.