Kleinhenz
Only two corporations submitted bids regarding how they would use $4 million to make nearly all Bartholomew County homes capable of having high-speed broadband internet.
Those two companies are Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp., an infrastructure investment company, and AT&T Internet Services, Bartholomew County attorney Grant Tucker said.
But immediately after opening the bids, Tucker said each offer was extremely complex.
“I’m not going to read them because it’s like reading Chinese to me,” Tucker told the Bartholomew County Commissioners Monday.
Commissioners Chairman Larry Kleinhenz agreed, adding the county may have to solicit some help from an expert in broadband internet service just to understand who is providing the best proposal.
“That’s a little unusual, because in many cases, we try not to overly use consultants,” Kleinhenz said. “But this is really complex, and it will have a strong impact on our taxpaying base.”
Commissioner Tony London, who also chairs the county’s broadband initiative committee, said he does not want Monday’s bids to make rural residents believe they have only two choices for high-speed internet providers.
“Let me be clear. The only thing we’re talking about is our financial participation of $4 million the county is receiving from the (federal) American Rescue Plan,” London said. “Nothing is stopping any provider from going out and digging and signing up people. Because the internet is unregulated, you could have 20 companies coming in and charge whatever they want — and then allow the free market to take off of things.”
The companies were not given the normal specifications usually included during the bidding process, Tucker said. Instead, London and county information technology director Scott Mayes worked together to develop certain parameters and expectations that include:
- Making fiber-optic cable available to nearly all homes in Bartholomew County, with an ultimate goal of reaching every residence in the near future.
- Providing a detailed explanation of how the company would use the $4 million and how they felt they could best serve the county’s citizens.
- A maximum connection speed of one gigabit per second for downloads and uploads.
- Offering an established and well-supported system.
- Proposing a system capable of increased performance as addresses and touting table sizes increase in the future to ensure these new systems remain viable for 25 to 30 years.
- Providing assistance to families who may not be able to afford the full price.
In regard to making high-speed internet more affordable, Congress recently created the Affordable Connectivity Program. It is a long-term, $14 billion program that will provide a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households.
It also offers a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.
“But in our specifications, one of the things we are scoring these companies on is how are they going to make sure folks of modest means have a take rate similar to folks of higher level means,” London said.
For many, the request for bids last month was unexpected. That’s because the county signed a letter of intent with Meridiam on on Sept. 27th. The original terms would have designated the New York City firm the exclusive provider of new fiber-optic cables for 25 years, in exchange for reaching 85% of all Bartholomew County homes.
But then, Kleinhenz requested a minimum of 90% of all nonmunicipal homes, instead of 85%.
The commissioners did not say whether the company made a response to Kleinhenz’s request. Instead, they announced in late November that the county was going to open up the bidding process to all interested companies.
London says it will likely take about a month to thoroughly study both offers before the commissioners make their choice.
