City officials are moving forward with plans to create infrastructure needed to provide high-speed Internet to more than 80% of local residences.
The Columbus Board of Works has approved an agreement with Dentons for legal services on the city’s fiber-to-home project.
City Director of Finance, Operations and Work Jamie Brinegar described it as a letter of engagement to work with the global law firm’s Indianapolis branch. The city is looking to engage one of the firm’s attorneys, Douglas Everette, as officials negotiate with Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp. on a contract for Internet infrastructure. Everette specializes in technology and utility agreements.
“The legal services associated with this project are so specialized that I really asked the mayor for some technical help with this,” said city attorney Alan Whitted. “And so he’s been gracious, along Jamie and the rest of the administration, to help identify this person — who really, I think, is going to help us to get the best product.”
Whitted noted that Everette is the “go-to person” on this kind of project. He is also working with the city of Bloomington on its negotiations with Meridiam, said Brinegar.
The Columbus Board of Works approved a letter of intent with the company in October. At the time, Brinegar described it as “a letter of intent between the city of Columbus and Meridiam Infrastructure to take the necessary steps to negotiate in good faith and execute an agreement prior to Dec. 31 to develop and operate a fiber network that serves the Columbus community on a long-term basis and for Meridiam to construct a fiber to home network that will reach at least 85% of all Columbus residences.”
He added that the actual contract would come later. The company, which is seeking a 25-year agreement, is not asking for any money from the city for the project.
Assuming a contract is reached, Meridiam would provide the infrastructure but not be the actual internet provider, said Director of Community Development and Administration Mary Ferdon. The company would contract with an Internet service provider for that component.
In talking about the benefits of this service, Brinegar said that for providers such as Comcast and U-verse, the fiber is brought through cable, which somewhat limits available speed. If the city works with Meridiam, the fiber will be run through a conduit throughout the community and then be directed to users’ houses. The company would also work to ensure that underserved areas have the same access to fiber as other parts of the community.
The service is estimated to cost $70-$90 per month, and residents would still have the option to choose other providers.
County officials are also considering partnership with Meridiam and have likewise engaged additional help in the matter. The Bartholomew County Commissioners have hired Scott Rudd of Rudd Consulting LLC in Nashville, Ind. to examine two proposals on the best way to invest $4 million from the American Rescue Plan to create high-speed internet in rural areas.
He was brought on board because the bids from Meridiam and AT&T Internet Services are highly technical and well over 100 pages long, said Commissioner Carl Lienhoop.
