1. Dig Once (with Many Partners) The Dakota County Broadband Network State Broadband Task Force June 15, 2016

4. Broadband Principles Development through collaboration – Prioritize cost saving opportunities – Contact potential partners for every project “Dig Once” – Annual review of County highway and parks projects – Identify external construction projects State, City and private communications providers Cost Sharing – Leasing strands to local partners helps to cover construction and maintenance costs Future Capacity – Additional empty conduit is standard

5. Where did it all begin? Beginning in 1998, Dakota County replaced 20 miles of leased copper communication lines between service centers with high speed fiber internet lines. Led to the development of the Dakota County Institutional Network (I-Net) – Goal: Connect county facilities, traffic lights, and parks to each other, neighboring counties, and the state network. – Use the broadband principles to guide development. Savings of $4,024,472 for County facilities Savings of $19,941,674 for County partners

6. I-Net Benefits and Efficiencies Improved traffic management is green, reduces carbon footprint Improved redundancy, resiliency, and reliability of government services – Public safety, fire/rescue, water/sewer monitoring, etc.) Reduced cost of fiber maintenance – Single county-wide contract

7. Pre-2015

9. I N 2015, D AKOTA C OUNTY PURCHASED $1.2 MILLION OF FIBER CABLE, CONDUIT AND DUCT THROUGH THE C APITAL I MPROVEMENT P ROGRAM BUDGET …

10. … THIS PURCHASE FREED THE C OUNTY TO DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BUILD OPPORTUNITIES WHEN AND WHERE THEY BECAME AVAILABLE.

11. What does collaboration look like? By reaching out to potential partners, Dakota County strengthens their broadband network while sharing construction and maintenance costs. One ditch for conduit in the City of Farmington serves multiple agencies: State of Minnesota Farmington Area Public Schools Dakota County City of Farmington Additional unused strands provide future growth opportunities

12. City of Farmington Partnered with the City of Farmington to upgrade the County’s fiber infrastructure – “Dig once”: upgrades during the CR 64 reconstruction – Connects traffic signals to improve timing and traffic flow – Adds redundancy and capacity to the County network – Future opportunity for Farmington Industrial Park connection G OVERNMENTAL P ARTNERS

13. Robert Street Construction Collaboration with the State and the City of West St. Paul to install fiber as part of the Robert Street project – Provides a High-density Communications Corridor connecting Dakota County to Ramsey County and State networks – Connects multiple County facilities on route – “Dig once” policy reduces cost of installation G OVERNMENTAL P ARTNERS

14. Rice County Entered in a JPA with Dakota County – Collocate server and data storage equipment in Dakota County’s primary data center – Compensate Dakota County for the use of two strands of fiber between counties Allows for disaster recovery services, off-site data storage and provides redundancy G OVERNMENTAL P ARTNERS

15. City of Eagan: Partner and Innovator Fiber Mapping since 2004 Part of Dakota County fiber partnership & online One Stop Right of Way Permit system Adding bid alternates to road construction projects for extending conduit Set aside some $ for unplanned opportunities Plan reviews, internal communications and development conditions (where appropriate) G OVERNMENTAL P ARTNERS

16. State of Minnesota Dakota County installs fiber for the State network backbone – Creates redundancy for the state network State provides electronics, operations and maintenance State also provides 24/7 Help Desk Support on the fiber lines G OVERNMENTAL P ARTNERS

17. Government Cooperative and JPA Entities Technology and Information Educational Services (TIES) – Serves the technology needs of all school districts in the County – Partnered with Dakota County to provide high speed fiber and redundancy services to both schools and county and city facilities

18. Non-Governmental Cooperatives Dakota Electric Association (DEA) – Leasing 90 miles of the broadband network – DEA can avoid construction and any associated costs that could increase prices – DEA can link its substations without bearing full cost of fiber construction – County gains revenue that lowers fiber construction and operations cost

19. Private Providers Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) – Dakota County purchased strands from HBC – Provided a connection between Northfield, the Dakota County Administration Center and the Byllesby Dam – Provides much needed redundancy, connectivity and security

20. One Piece at a Time The I-Net has grown from 20 miles in 1998 to 353 miles today – All from looking for collaborative opportunities – The County never received large State or Federal grants to build significant portions of the network Examples of economic and social benefits – School District 196 saves over $90,000 per year in communication costs – The City of Burnsville saves $40,000 – 10 libraries now have affordable high-speed internet service – Potential to connect 2,700 senior and low income housing units

21. Miles of I-Net fiber that are completed or in progress

22. Next Steps: Joint Powers Agreement An umbrella management entity would reduce costs for all members Sharing fiber would be quicker and easier (standard agreements, streamlined legal review) One stop management and tracking of fiber assets JPA concept has been approved by the County Board and cities Detailed technical and financial studies now underway

23. Continued Partnership: State of Minnesota Dakota County has equally underserved communities State policy should encourage use of governmental networks for service delivery Improve partnerships with individual state agencies