October 17, 1995

Policy Committee

International Center for Communications

Attendees: Allen Brooks, Liz Douglass, Ames Early, John Eger, Phil Garcia, Joyce Gattas, Joe Giammona, Andrea Johnson, Tony Lengerich, Ted Purvis, Lee Rizio, Ron Scott, Howard Stapleton, Mike Teayes, Carole Wallace, Dick Wilkin.

Mr. Eger opened the meeting shortly after 8:00 a.m. with introductions. He stated that the RFI process is now complete, and we are now moving into the RFP process. He then turned the floor over to the Mayor's representative, Kevin Hopkins.

Hopkins thanked the committee members on behalf of the mayor for their work on the project. He said that the RFP represents a huge leap forward in moving from ideas into implementation. The building of a telecommunications infrastructure will involve a large monetary investment over a short period of time, and Hopkins emphasized that the broad range of ideas generated by the diverse committee members will be critical in insuring that that money is well spent.

Eger then spoke about a study the International Center for Communications (ICC) has completed called "San Diego and the Global Village," which investigated information infrastructure initiatives of several cities worldwide. The report found that San Diego was unique in using collaborative efforts between industry and government in developing its communications infrastructure, stressing cooperation as well as competition. The report also recognized that changes in public attitude and behavior will be more critical to the development of telecommunications than advances in technology.

Eger reviewed the original Mayor's Advisory Committee recommendations. The committee suggested the City encourage private/public partnerships, and establish a Telecommunications Policy Office, now headed by Howard Stapleton, to coordinate such efforts. Local government should play a lead role in the adoption of new technologies by using them in its own dealings. A recommendation that was not acted on was to establish a Federal/State funding task force, although a regional technology council was established. The Committee recommended continued studies to identify and reward private telecommunications initiatives. San Diego's human resources should be maximized by training workers to use telecommunications technology. And finally, the City should blur the borders between its municipalities and between itself and the Baja region through cooperative efforts.

Eger added that San Diego has more cable and fiber optics in place than any other city, but they are parts of different systems run by different organizations. The City of the Future initiative could provide the impetus needed to connect all these networks together.

Next, Joe Giammona spoke about the history of the San Diego Data Processing Center (SDDPC). The City formed the SDDPC as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in order to "lessen the burden of government," and more easily form private/public ventures with other organizations. The City Council appoints a board of directors for the corporation, which is responsible for final approval of all SDDPC projects.

The SDDPC provides computer, data, and telecommunications services to the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, and other government and non-profit agencies. The Center became the integrator of several key regional information systems including the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS), the Regional Urban Information System (RUIS), and regional library systems.

Ron Scott outlined the SDDPC's existing telecommunications network. Developed over a five-year period, it covers the entire county of San Diego region and contains about 2,100 circuits connecting 500 locations. The voice network is being designed to provide a consistent interface for voice systems, interconnections for different platforms, higher bandwidths, and remote maintenance within the next three to five years.

The voice network now consists of 24 NEC PBXs with about 8,500 lines throughout the city. City employees use this private network to make about 1.1 million internal calls to each other per month using five-digit phone numbers. The network also accommodates about 450,000 local calls per month, 41,000 long distance calls per month, OCTEL XC1000 voice mail for 9,000 users, integrated voice response systems, automatic call distribution systems, and auto attendants.

The data network is know as SanNet. It is a backbone network based on T-1 service. The FDDI rings at multiple building sites, and SanNet services all the major City facilities and City and County libraries. It uses commercial vendors such as Cisco for routers and Cabletron for network hubs, has about 5,200 data devices (PCs, high-end work stations, file servers, etc.) connected to the network. SanNet uses multiple protocols including SNA, TCP/IP, LAT, IPX, and XNS. SDDPC operates a network management center using Spectrum software to support the network.

Stapleton next spoke about the tenets Telecommunications Public Policy (900-13) created by the City. The first is to improve the City's administrative efficiency through effective use of telecommunications. Another is to reduce budget deficits, both by reducing the cost of delivering services, and by charging private organizations for access to the network. Telecommunications should be used to increase participation in local decision-making and encourage inter-agency cooperation, as well as ensuring the delivery of government services to all constituents. Other goals of the policy are to reduce environmental impact while building the infrastructure, to encourage the economic development of the area, and to provide affordable access to all citizens.

However, significant capital investment will be required to upgrade the current systems in order to keep up with expanding demand.

There has been an ongoing dialogue with the private sector about the development of the infrastructure and Stapleton listed some of the suggestions made by private industry. One opinion is that the City should simply let private industry create the infrastructure, and eventually all the City's goals will be met. Many said the San Diego should be more aggressive in lobbying for federal and state legislation of benefit to the region. Some said that the City should focus on content and applications, not infrastructure, while others said the role of government should be as the provider of last resort for those who cannot afford access. Many suggested the City continue to operate its private virtual network, or to expand the network to include other governmental and private users and remain as the anchor tenant for the system. The final suggestion made by a few respondents was that the time is right to create a new, fiber- based telecommunications utility.

After considering all these suggestions, the subcommittee saw two viable options. One was to continue using the private virtual network to lower the overall costs of voice and data services. This could be done by maintaining SanNet at its current level with minimal upgrades, but that would not be consistent with the goals of advancement in the Telecommunications Policy. So instead, the technology in SanNet could be fully upgraded to support increased usage while lowering ongoing costs. Expanding the geographic coverage of SanNet would allow more organizations to use the network, also reducing the cost of operation.

The other major option considered was to enter into a partnership with private industry to create a new regional telecommunications network, a strategy being pursued by other cities like Seattle, Austin, and Anaheim. Through such an arrangement, the City could collect equity in exchange for the use of its public assets. The impact on the rights-of-way and communities could be minimized if the system were built large enough to accommodate all potential users, and the use of private financing would minimize financial risk to the City. However, the exact makeup of the new system would be an economic decision made by the private company that enters the partnership.

Stapleton then reviewed the City of the Future process and timeline. In March of 1994, the SDDPC issued the RFI. Later that year, meetings were held with RFI respondents to generate feedback. In May of 1995 a report was made to the SDDPC Board of Directors recommending the issue of the RFP. That recommendation was reviewed by the Policy Subcommittee in June. In July, the City Council approved the RFP concept, but requested more information on the evaluation process. On September 6, the Advisory Committee reviewed the evaluation criteria, and the Council Rules Committee approved that evaluation process on September 11. The City Council approved the RFP and evaluation process on October 2, and the RFP was in distribution by October 6.

The RFP asks for proposals on two different elements. One is a private virtual network to replace the existing voice and data networks. This would include upgrading technology and expanding geographic reach, while providing for the ongoing operation of the network. The other element requested is a regional telecommunications network, through a private-public partnership, serving government, businesses, and citizens.

Stapleton outlined the proposed service structure for the regional network. The network should be open to all content and service providers, not just the company that owns the wiring. It should use standards-based technology, allowing it to interconnect with all other networks, and have abundant bandwidth beyond the current demand. The network should be available to every business, institution, and residence. And lastly, it should be developed and operated in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The City's goals for the regional network, Stapleton continued, reflect the City's telecommunications policy. The first is to provide flexibility in the delivery of City services by reaching out into neighborhoods. The City also wants to control the cost to the government of using the telecommunications network, and receive compensation for the use of public assets and participation. Optimal use should be made of finite public rights-of-way, and services should be made available at the lowest possible cost. The network should encourage economic development, and promote competition in order to increase the number and variety of telecommunications services available.

The evaluation criteria of the regional network section of the RFP contains three basic elements: technical, business and financial, and respondent viability. The technical aspects must achieve the overall goals using currently viable equipment, and have provisions for ongoing operations and management. The business and financial issues that must be evaluated include the organizational structure of the proposed private-public partnership, the general costs and revenues of its operation, and the specific costs and benefits to SDDPC and the City of San Diego, as well as consumers. Respondent viability refers to the corporate and financial strength of the company submitting the proposal, any applicable experience that company has in the field, participation by minority and woman-owned businesses, the establishment of a local presence, and a total quality management philosophy in the company's operation.

Stapleton then moved on to the evaluation criteria for the private network proposals, which is similar to that of the regional network. Characteristics to be examined include the organizational and financial viability of the respondent, how they respond to the specific services proposed in the RFP, their customer service focus, the technical merits of their proposal, its cost effectiveness, and the viability of their financing mechanisms.

Next, Joe Giammona took the floor to explain the evaluation process. If it seems that the proposals are best suited for the expansion of the private virtual network, then the question will be whether or not the proposals provide a better solution than the network as it exists today, and the SDDPC could make the final decision. However, if the proposals favor the regional network model, then only the City Council will have authority to make that final decision.

An Evaluation Committee would be responsible for reviewing all the responses to the RFP and recommending finalists. Those individuals who choose to be evaluators will be required to sign a conflict of interest disclosure and confidentiality agreement. The Committee would then agree on roles for support teams and recommendations for team leaders. They would then need to agree on the specific evaluation criteria, and identify and discuss other issues, as well as arranging a tentative meeting schedule.

Giammona outlined the timeline for the rest of the RFP process. Two pre-proposal conferences will be held on October 27 and November 7, giving vendors the opportunity to ask questions about the RFP before responding. The deadline for written vendor questions will be November 20, with written responses returned by December 1 and disseminated to all vendors to ensure fairness. The RFP submission deadline is December 18, and the evaluation process should be complete by February 29.

The RFP is currently available on the San Diego home page of the World Wide Web.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 am.

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