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| ARF- 3981 |
Regular Agenda Item 3. E.
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| Regular BOS Meeting |
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| Information |
| Request/Subject |
| Request to Award RFP No. 080116 Wan and Internet Services. |
| Background Information |
At the August 15, 2016, Board of Supervisors' Regular Meeting, the Board authorized the newspaper advertisement of Request for Proposals No. 080116 for WAN and Internet Service.
Over the course of the last few years, the Information Technology Department has worked hard to upgrade the network infrastructure and provide better and faster services to the outlying buildings and areas. Most of the improvements have centered on the Payson area. Now that Payson is operating more efficiently in terms of accessing County resources on the network, we need to bring the outlying buildings in Globe up to speed for their connections to the County network; and also improve our overall Internet bandwidth connection that is shared County-wide by all facilities.
Currently, the County shares a 20Mbps Internet connection, and it has become more than evident that it is not sufficiently providing proper Internet access across all facilities. This makes it increasing difficult for employees outside of the Courthouse to perform required duties in a timely manner. Also, inadequate are the network connections from the Central Heights and Public Works facilities that connect to the Courthouse and provide not only Internet access but network access for all affected employees in those buildings. Those facilities currently connect to the Courthouse with a 10Mbps connection and staff can find it hard to work efficiently as they have slow speeds and will frequently wait for the computer to give them access to shared network resources. |
| Evaluation |
Sealed proposals were accepted in the Gila County Finance Department through 4:00 P.M. MST, on September 9, 2016. The Finance Department received competitive proposals from four vendors for Request for Proposals No. 080116, WAN and Internet Services.
After careful review and deliberation, staff believes that one of the options provided by Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc. (TMCI) is in the best interest of the County. This option will increase out current Internet Services from 20Mb to 250Mb.It will also provide for an increase in WAN services from the Globe Courthouse to the Public Works campus and the Central Heights campus from the current 10Mb speeds to 1000Mb speeds. Gila County's current Internet and WAN services contract with Cable One costs approximately $3,752 per month. The new cost with the preferred TMCI option will be $5,214.95 before taxes. With taxes and surcharges, we believe the monthly cost should be $5,658.02. With that cost in mind, we will pay approximately $1,906.02 per month more for these services, but receive 12.5 times the Internet bandwidth, and 100 times the WAN bandwidth between campuses.
When evaluating TMCI against the other proposals, only CableOne had an option with a lower monthly cost. However, the CableOne option was lower in Internet speed and significantly lower in WAN speeds. Their lowest offering was for 200Mb of Internet and 250Mb of WAN speeds at a cost of $4480 per month before taxes. CableOne also had a closer option of 200Mb Internet service and 500MB of WAN services, but at a cost of $5280 per month before taxes, which was higher than the TMCI option while still providing slower services. The final competitors, Verizon and CopperNet, both had offerings of lower speeds with much higher monthly costs.
Finally, while TMCI had one other available option at a lower monthly cost, staff felt that the increase in Internet bandwidth justifies the higher monthly cost. The lowest cost option with TMCI is for 200Mb Internet bandwidth with the same WAN bandwidth at a cost savings of $488.40 per month over the recommended option. However, staff feels that this offering might not deliver the required Internet speeds that the County needs to perform appropriately. As well, when just comparing the Internet costs of the options, the lowest option had a cost per Mb of $13.03, whereas the recommended option has a cost per Mb of $12.38. |
| Conclusion |
| The contract with Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc. (TMCI) would provide increased broadband Internet speeds across all connected County buildings. It would also significantly improve communications between the Public Works, Central Heights and Courthouse facilities. Staff feels that this contract would provide County offices up to greater level of communications speeds while being financially responsible in cost. |
| Recommendation |
| The Information Technology Department Director recommends that the Board of Supervisors award a contract for Request for Proposals No. 080116 for the WAN and Internet Services as specified. |
| Suggested Motion |
| Information/Discussion/Action to review all bids submitted for Request for Proposals No. 080116 for WAN and Internet Services; award to Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc. (TMCI); and, authorize the Chairman's signature on the award contract for the winning bidder. (Kelly Riggs) |
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