Dig Once (with Many Partners)The Dakota County Broadband Network

State Broadband Task ForceJune 15, 2016

Broadband Principles • Development through collaboration– Prioritize cost saving opportunities– Contact potential partners for every project

• “Dig Once”– Annual review of County highway and parks projects – Identify external construction projects

• State, City and private communications providers

• Cost Sharing– Leasing strands to local partners helps to cover construction and

maintenance costs

• Future Capacity– Additional empty conduit is standard

Where did it all begin?• Beginning in 1998, Dakota County replaced 20 miles

of leased copper communication lines between service centers with high speed fiber internet lines.

• Led to the development of the Dakota County Institutional Network (I-Net)– Goal: Connect county facilities, traffic lights, and parks to

each other, neighboring counties, and the state network.– Use the broadband principles to guide development.

• Savings of $4,024,472 for County facilities• Savings of $19,941,674 for County partners

I-Net Benefits and Efficiencies• Improved traffic management is green, reduces

carbon footprint

• Improved redundancy, resiliency, and reliability of government services– Public safety, fire/rescue, water/sewer monitoring, etc.)

• Reduced cost of fiber maintenance – Single county-wide contract

Pre-2015

IN 2015, DAKOTA COUNTY PURCHASED $1.2 MILLION OF FIBER CABLE, CONDUIT AND DUCT THROUGH THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM BUDGET…

…THIS PURCHASE FREED THE COUNTY TO DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BUILD

OPPORTUNITIES WHEN AND WHERE THEY BECAME AVAILABLE.

What does collaboration look like?By reaching out to potential partners, Dakota County strengthens their broadband network while sharing construction and maintenance costs.

One ditch for conduit in the City of Farmington serves multiple agencies:

State of Minnesota

Farmington Area Public Schools

Dakota County

City of Farmington

Additional unused strands provide future growth opportunities

City of Farmington• Partnered with the City of Farmington to

upgrade the County’s fiber infrastructure– “Dig once”: upgrades during the CR 64

reconstruction– Connects traffic signals to improve timing and

traffic flow– Adds redundancy and capacity to the County

network – Future opportunity for Farmington Industrial Park

connection

GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

Robert Street Construction• Collaboration with the State and the City of

West St. Paul to install fiber as part of the Robert Street project– Provides a High-density Communications Corridor

connecting Dakota County to Ramsey County and State networks

– Connects multiple County facilities on route– “Dig once” policy reduces cost of installation

GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

Rice County• Entered in a JPA with Dakota County– Collocate server and data storage equipment in Dakota

County’s primary data center– Compensate Dakota County for the use of two strands of

fiber between counties

• Allows for disaster recovery services, off-site data storage and provides redundancy

GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

City of Eagan: Partner and Innovator• Fiber Mapping since 2004• Part of Dakota County fiber partnership &

online One Stop Right of Way Permit system• Adding bid alternates to road construction

projects for extending conduit• Set aside some $ for unplanned opportunities• Plan reviews, internal communications and

development conditions (where appropriate)

GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

State of Minnesota• Dakota County installs fiber for the State network

backbone– Creates redundancy for the state network

• State provides electronics, operations and maintenance

• State also provides 24/7 Help Desk Support on the fiber lines

GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

Government Cooperative and JPA Entities

• Technology and Information Educational Services (TIES)– Serves the technology needs of all school districts

in the County– Partnered with Dakota County to provide high

speed fiber and redundancy services to both schools and county and city facilities

Non-Governmental Cooperatives• Dakota Electric Association (DEA)– Leasing 90 miles of the broadband network– DEA can avoid construction and any associated

costs that could increase prices– DEA can link its substations without bearing full

cost of fiber construction– County gains revenue that lowers fiber

construction and operations cost

Private Providers• Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC)– Dakota County purchased strands from HBC– Provided a connection between Northfield, the

Dakota County Administration Center and the Byllesby Dam

– Provides much needed redundancy, connectivity and security

One Piece at a Time• The I-Net has grown from 20 miles in 1998 to 353 miles

today – All from looking for collaborative opportunities– The County never received large State or Federal grants to build

significant portions of the network

• Examples of economic and social benefits– School District 196 saves over $90,000 per year in

communication costs– The City of Burnsville saves $40,000– 10 libraries now have affordable high-speed internet service– Potential to connect 2,700 senior and low income housing units

Miles of I-Net fiber that are completed or in progress

Next Steps: Joint Powers Agreement• An umbrella management entity would reduce costs

for all members• Sharing fiber would be quicker and easier (standard

agreements, streamlined legal review)• One stop management and tracking of fiber assets• JPA concept has been approved by the County Board

and cities• Detailed technical and financial studies now

underway

Continued Partnership: State of Minnesota

• Dakota County has equally underserved communities

• State policy should encourage use of governmental networks for service delivery

• Improve partnerships with individual state agencies