The City of Cortez has published a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking qualified Fiber to the Home (FTTH) providers to partner with the City to deploy a fiber optic network to all businesses and residential locations in Cortez, located in Colorado, western USA.

The selected private partner will design and finance the network, with responsibilities including rate structures, construction, operations, and maintenance. The City will consider all or any combination of the above items for the partnership.

The City currently operates a GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) Cortez Community Network (CCN) with Calix headend and Customer Premise Equipment. The GPON CCN has seven providers utilizing the network to offer services to the citizens. This is operated as an Open Access network.

The City recently completed a FTTH Feasibility Study and Community Survey that shows the community desire for an advanced telecommunications network.  The Feasibility Study shows a strong case for a single provider model and the Survey reflects a high take rate and desire for advanced services.

The City has an aerial and an underground network that can be leveraged for the partnership. The existing fiber network has a presence in the downtown corridor and all four quadrants of the City.

Partnership proposals are due no later than 18 January 2019. For more information, see the Business Opportunity.