King George Wireless Authority

1. King George Wireless Authority Joseph W. Grzeika Chairman King George Board of Supervisors

2. Background • In mid 90’s Board of Supervisors added requirements on all new cell phone tower special exceptions to allow county use of tower for county communication purposes • By early 2000’s Internet Access was becoming more of an expected “utility” vice “nice to have”

3. Background Continued • 2003 General Assembly enacted Wireless Service Authority Act (Code of Va. 15.2-5431.10) • 2007 General Assembly added Wireless broadband equipment and infrastructure to definition of Public Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA)

4. Project Summary • 2006 King George formed Wireless Authority • Board of Directors are the Board of Supervisors • Identified need; • Private suppliers (Verizon, Cable franchisee, and satellite) not serving many rural areas of county • Economic Development impacted by availability of broadband in county • Defense Contractors and employees need reliable broadband access at work and home • Commercial sector reliant upon internet • Sheriff/EMS/Schools/County Admin needs reliable county wide access to broadband

5. Project Summary (Continued) • 2006-2007 Board developed and issued Request for Qualifications • Asked for vendors to propose solutions that would achieve 95% geographic coverage • Public-Private partnership desired • Open to all approaches that achieve the goals

6. Project Summary (Continued) • 4 Proposals received and evaluated • Various responses, pure fee for service, franchises, etc • Virginia Broad Band selected, regional wireless company

7. Project Summary (Continued) • Spring 2007 • Worked with VABB to develop contract • Identified existing assets (Communications and County Service Authority Towers) • Network deployment goals • Financing plan • December 2007 • Finalized deal Conceptually

8. Project Summary (Continued) • January 2008 Wireless Authority/VABB sign Contract and close on financing • VABB responsible for development and implementation of Network • VABB responsible for all marketing, customer service, billing • Authority obtains Financing (Loan to VABB due to Authority repayment schedule in contract) • $740,000 obtained through local bank, incremental disbursement based on schedule of activity • Authority has applied for Stimulus funds – none received to date

9. Project Summary (Continued) • Spring 2008 • VABB Commences deployment • Pilot equipment installed • Summer 2008 first subscribers signed up and VABB works with Schools to provide portion of their network

10. Project Summary (Continued) • Summer 2008 • Tower Owners raise issues with access despite provisions • VABB continues installation on unaffected towers and increase customer base • Authority works through the legal issues with tower access

11. Project Summary (Continued) • Current Status • Issues with all but 1 of the Towers resolved through negotiation • VABB is operational on 4 towers • In process of deploying on 4 additional towers (operational by end of calendar year)

12. Project Summary (Continued) • Current Status (Continued) • 1 tower still in dispute • County provides access to towers identified as Phase 1 in contract • VABB responsible for marketing and network operations

13. Project Summary (Continued) • Status • Delay in access to towers has impacted deployment schedule: • 70% geographic coverage in Phase 1 delayed almost 1 year • Authority will conduct Network Assessment Acceptance Test upon completion of Phase 1 to ensure coverage met • VABB to provide Authority with regular progress/financial reports per contract

14. Project Summary (Continued) • Status (Continued) • Work Outstanding • Phase 2 completion (95% geographic coverage) • Network Service to Governmental Agencies • Free/discounted service/training to Digital Inclusion Residents • VABB assumes payment for Phase 2 facilities • Procure follow-on Network Agreement

15. Challenges/Lessons • Tower agreement provisions need to be as broad as possible to allow Authority use • Competitors will react to deployment • Local cable provider aggressively deploying fiber; but not seeing them expand their coverage to less dense areas • Verizon does not seem interested in rural county • Broad Band is the new Utility Service residents expect

16. Challenges/Lessons (Continued) • Provider needs to be in tune with the market and step up to serve the new areas • Rural areas pose technical challenges that the provider needs to solve: • Terrain • Tree Canopy • New Equipment/changes to Technology • Small (5-20 house clusters) • Customer Service – reflects on the county

17. Challenges/Lessons (Continued) • Deployment takes much longer than you expect – manage expectations • Establish customer service and marketing requirements in the contract • Competitive Environment poses challenges to obtaining reports/data while protecting the provider’s proprietary information

18. Conclusion • Broad Band is the “New Utility” • Rural Markets are not high on the commercial providers priority due to the density/business payoffs • Tower Access Key • King George Still a work in process • Questions?