What Should be in a Feasibility Study?
In the Spring of 2020 City Manager Louie DePasquale agreed to perform a feasibility study for municipal broadband. A “feasibility study” is a well understood term in the broadband industry and means a full analysis of the costs, benefits, and risks of an investment in a network. DePasquale promised a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the study in the summer. It is November and we haven’t seen an RFP yet but there are indications that the City has begun work on it. In a meeting called by Councilor Patricia Nolan, DePasquale and City officials asked for guidance on the process, asking the Council to clarify their goals for the process. We urge the councilors to be unambiguous in their guidance and encourage them to look for the following:
Network Infrastructure
Does the RFP call for an analysis of a fiber optic network that connects to, or passes by, every premises in Cambridge? If the City is going to do the work of analysis, if shouldn’t be analyzing partial solutions. While there may be small exceptions, like MIT or Harvard dormitories that are already well connected, this analysis should be of a network for all of Cambridge. All residences and businesses must be included.
Network Ownership
Does the RFP state that Cambridge should own the network it builds? Cambridge should own the infrastructure that it builds, just as it owns streets, sidewalks, and water and sewer pipes. This is necessary so that Cambridge can shape policies that protect network neutrality, privacy, and pricing. This is not something about which Cambridge should compromise.
Cost Estimate
Does the scope of work allow for a full cost estimate for building the network? One of the core weaknesses of the work of the Broadband Task Force was that the scope of work imposed by the City kept it from providing a reliable cost estimate. Cambridge shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. A full cost estimate is resource intensive and necessary. The physical network has to be designed and existing infrastructure like empty conduit needs to be inventoried. Most important, physical facilities like underground cables and above ground utility poles need to be inspected so that the real and full cost of adding fiber optic cabling can be estimated.
Is financing of the network treated as a problem to be solved or a fundamental obstacle? Cambridge routinely finances capital projects that exceed the cost of a fiber network and cities with far fewer resources than Cambridge finance their own networks. There are ways to do this that won’t materially impact our credit rating or financial health and City financing experts need to engage in a problem solving exercise not a fear-mongering one.
Project Financing
Will the process explore the benefits of a ubiquitous, City-owned network aligned with the needs and values of the community? Understanding costs and risks is important but so are the benefits. Everyone in Cambridge can benefit from this investment, whether they are part of a low income family, or a Kendall Square entrepreneur. How can the City make an informed decision without knowing the expected non-financial return on the investment.
Goals Alignment
Will there be robust engagement with the community? The Broadband Task Force did little more than check the box for community engagement with two low attendance meetings. The City knows how to practice broad engagement and those skills should be applied to municipal broadband. The City will learn more about what the community wants and when the network is deployed, the community buy-in will be even greater.
Community Engagement
Will the process to assess how many people will subscribe to a municipal service be open and fair? The core of a feasibility study is assessing the “take rate”, how many people will subscribe. An underestimated take rate will deem a network unfeasible. Conversely, overestimating it can lead to financial difficulties.
Take Rate Assessment
How is the analysis of a business model framed? Operation of the network - the retail delivery of services to residents - is one of the more complex questions a feasibility study needs to answer. Upgrade Cambridge favors a model where a private entity or entities contract with the City to provide services via the city-owned network. This enables the City to require the private entity to abide by a set of practices approved by the City, e.g. net neutrality and privacy protections.
Business Model
Will the process assess City staffing expertise? The City has one staffer, its Chief Information Officer Pat McCormick, with expertise in municipal broadband. Is that actually enough to be successful?
City Staffing
Easy Next Step
Are the deliverables designed to make a decision straightforward and a transition to a build phase easy? A decision to proceed with municipal broadband should be made by the Council and the Manager, based on the information delivered in this study. We really don’t need further delays to digest a hundred pages of dense prose. While that backup detail is necessary, the core of the study must be easy for anyone to understand. And, should the decision be to build a community-owned network, we shouldn’t need another extended process to begin. All that work should be front-loaded in the Feasibility Study.
Does the study conflate digital equity and municipal broadband? The City has a digital equity problem, one that became critical after the pandemic struck. The City needs to solve that now and municipal broadband can’t happen fast enough to do it. It can, and should, become a longer term strategic solution by using subscription fees of those with the ability to pay to subsidize those who can’t.
Digital Equity
What are the Community Benefits? A study should examine the benefits to Cambridge of having municipal broadband system that is affordable, open, privacy respecting, and managed to the needs of Cambridge.
Community Benefits
Is there any extra baggage in the study? The City started to write this RFP in 2017 just after the Broadband Task Force completed its work. That draft included elements such as work on so-called “smart city” investments. While the study must be full and complete, it should also be singularly focused on building and operating infrastructure. Anything else is a distraction.