County approves five-year Spectrum public Wi-Fi contract at $80 monthly

Ravalli County commissioners approved a contract on June 10 with Spectrum (Charter/Spectrum Business) to provide a 100-meg public Wi-Fi circuit for county public access at $80 per month under a 60-month term.

IT staff said the county currently pays roughly $73 per month for a low-bandwidth circuit and that the proposed 100-meg public Wi-Fi circuit will improve public access. The contract includes an installation fee of about $100; IT staff said Spectrum offered two months free service as part of the deal.

Why it matters: Upgrading to 100 megabits per second for public Wi-Fi is intended to improve public document access and reduce user friction when scanning and uploading documents at county facilities.

Board action and funding

A motion to approve the Spectrum Business public Wi-Fi contract (not to exceed $80 per month) was moved, seconded and carried. IT staff indicated the monthly cost will be charged to the appropriate county account code.

Ending

County staff said they would route the DocuSign contract to the appropriate signers and asked to be copied so the commissioners could track execution.