Chicago aims to build public/private network

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By James Cope

(IDG) -- The city of Chicago has issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) on a groundbreaking metropolitan-area network (MAN) project to a shortlist of 22 vendors and service providers. It expects to get responses by late March.

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The project, called CivicNet, is aimed at bringing a broadband network with integrated data, voice and video capabilities to every nook and cranny of Chicago over the next 10 years. But most of the cost isn't expected to land on the Windy City's shoulders. City officials are looking for private-sector companies to build and manage the network. The city government, which has an annual telecommunications budget of more than $30 million, would be the anchor tenant.

The RFP was issued late last month, and vendors have until March 29 to respond, CivicNet project manager Doug Power said last week. The request was issued to a set of prequalified vendors, most of which have shown an interest in the project from its inception. But Power said newcomers can also respond to the RFP.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans for CivicNet early last year. The project has already moved through the design feedback and vendor qualification stages. Power said the RFP was sent to networking equipment makers, telecommunications service providers and systems integrators, including Cisco Systems Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and SBC Communications Inc.'s Ameritech division.

The plan to have vendors create the framework for designing, building and ultimately managing the MAN is a key idea behind CivicNet, according to Joe Mambretti, a professor at Northwestern University, who has been consulting on the project.

John Mazur, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, said he wouldn't be surprised to see multiple consortia of vendors evolve from the RFP responses. That would be one way for vendors to get their arms around the CivicNet project, Mazur said.

For example, he said, two or three large technology vendors, a communications service provider and a systems integrator could team up and pull in other companies as the project proceeds.

Power said he expects to receive 10 to 15 RFP submissions, which he characterized as "design-and-build conceptual responses." After that, he added, city officials "will be asking for specifics on how [vendors] plan to do it and how much it will cost" before awarding any contracts for the project. Contracts are to be issued late this year or early next, he said.