Local broadband provider proposes outsourcing Shelton IT and installing carrier poles; seeks finance committee review

Danica Collins (speaker 5), director of business operations at Rifton Community Broadband, gave the board an update on the company's local rollout and presented a proposal to partner with the city for IT services and telecom infrastructure.

Collins said Rifton established a retail and server presence at 356 Howe Avenue and offers a wireless deployment that yields 1-gigabit upload and download performance without trenching fiber. She described local deployments at downtown sites and event coverage at Shelton Day and the Farmers Market, noting a reported event attendance of about 4,700 people for a recent Shelton Day.

As a proposal, Collins recommended that Shelton outsource IT to Rifton at current cost, transfer the Shelton IT director (named in the presentation as Dan Bednarski/Bednarowski) to Rifton while he remains the city's primary IT contact, and allow Rifton to design, deploy and maintain street poles on city property that carriers could rent.

Collins said the poles could produce recurring revenue; the presentation offered an estimated recurring-revenue figure of $24,000,000 per year and a sample estimate of $200,000 per month from early multipliers. "This would be something that Rifton would be responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining, so it wouldn't come at any cost to the city," Collins said, and she asked to bring a more detailed outline to the finance committee.

Board members welcomed the proposal and directed Collins to take the plan to the finance committee for further review and financial detail.