The City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Technology (DT) may have a requirement for a Municipal Cellular System Public-Private Partnership.

The following information is sourced from the Request for Information (RFI) document and is subject to change upon the release of a formal solicitation.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The City and County of San Francisco has over 34,000 employees across 60 departments. Approximately 20,000 employees require a cellular device with unlimited talk, text, and data to perform their duties, and many public-safety staff require mobile data access through in-vehicle routers for response activities. This cellular coverage is especially critical during disasters when commercial cellular services are often not available.

The City’s Department of Technology invites cellular carriers and other organizations (“Respondents”) to submit information regarding a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to develop, finance, construct, and operate a robust, resilient municipal cellular service for City staff.

The envisioned partnership would provide improved cellular capacity, coverage, and reliability at no net cost to the City. In exchange, the carrier partner would benefit from access to the City’s substantial portfolio of assets, including its 72,000 miles of dark fiber, disaster-resilient public-safety-grade radio sites, and thousands of potential microcell host locations (e.g., traffic signals, streetlight poles, and City buildings).

Over the next five years, the City plans to build out additional fiber, with construction focused in key areas. In addition, the City has an ongoing policy of installing telecommunications conduit and fiber in excavations in the public right of way and in other public works projects. This existing and planned fiber intersects with inter-city and metro fiber routes at several points and is accessible to existing and planned access points and hubs.

The City is seeking a resilient, future-proof municipal cellular system that will support a range of user needs and emerging technologies. These technologies include but are not limited to smartphones, cellular hotspots, in-vehicle data routers (e.g. CradlePoint), 5G Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), future IOT devices, and backup network backhaul.

CITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ASSETS

Relevant City assets include:

• Fiber: The City owns approximately 72,000 fiber miles.
• Radio Towers: The City currently owns radio towers/sites at different critical locations, all of which include robust backup power systems.
• Conduit: City-owned conduit within the City’s jurisdiction.
• Traffic Signals: located throughout the city with City-owned fiber backhaul • Siren Sites: 50+ Alert and warning siren poles
• Streetlights: The City currently owns and maintains over 25,000 street lights.
• Other Assets: The City has 300 properties with City buildings on them and partnership with over 150 affordable housing properties.

Interested Respondents must email Kenneth Edhammer at [email protected]. to execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) prior to receiving detailed information regarding City infrastructure (fiber maps, asset details, etc.).

The following information is sourced from the Request for Information (RFI) document and is subject to change upon the release of a formal solicitation.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Respondents must propose a cellular network solution to support the City’s Municipal Cellular Network. The submission should include information on the technology that will be deployed to meet the project’s goals and objectives. This should cover key areas such as architecture, scalability, performance metrics, reliability, and the economic rationale behind the chosen technology. The level of detail provided should be sufficient to evaluate the suitability of the solution; however, detailed designs are not required at this stage.

Responses should address the following:

1. Utilization of City Assets
   • Identify which City assets your solution will utilize. The City reserves the right to make the final decisions regarding asset use.
   • Identify anticipated modifications or upgrades necessary to existing City infrastructure (fiber upgrades, pole reinforcements, additional power, etc.)
   • Describe your approach to reviewing equipment and pole mounting (including aesthetic considerations) for wireless infrastructure and share relevant findings with the City.
   • Describe your approach for negotiating and proposing property agreements (e.g., licenses, sub-licenses, or encroachment agreements) for City-approved sites. The City will assist in brokering agreements and retains final authority on all property agreements.
2. Cellular Spectrum and Bandwidth Strategy
   • Describe your scalable and expandable cellular spectrum plan for use of licensed or unlicensed frequencies for the municipal network. This can include existing licensed spectrum or licensing of new spectrum as needed within the design.
   • Describe specific frequencies and channel bandwidths to be offered for the City’s exclusive use (dedicated spectrum), whether continuous or non-continuous is preferred but not required.
3. Public Safety Resilience Prioritization
   • How will your network prioritize public safety access and maximize throughput, bandwidth, and coverage for first responders through the use of dedicated spectrum or bandwidth?
4. Technical Capabilities and Services
   • List specifications for QoS standards, including reliability, and how these standards will be sustained over time.
   • Describe your plan for conducting RF analysis, asset inventory, wireless requirements projections, and wireless master planning for the Municipal cellular network.
   • Provide information on available managed services, including speed, bandwidth, coverage, and connectivity
   • Provide details on street-level in-building coverage for the proposed cellular network and roaming network carriers.
   • Describe how you propose providing roaming coverage onto a national carrier network when users are outside of the coverage area of the San Francisco Municipal Mobile Project.
   • Describe how your solution will address data privacy, user consent, and cybersecurity, particularly for public-facing services and mobile user traffic. Please include policies on data collection, retention, third-party sharing, and anonymization.
5. 24/7 Maintenance Support
   • Describe your 24/7 maintenance and support to city employees for the network.
   • The City will in turn provide technicians, 24/7 monitoring, and additional manpower to support maintenance and service restoration work. What service level agreements (SLA) would you require from the City?
6. Advanced Technologies and Future Proofing
   • Demonstrate your network’s suitability to support 5G and other advanced wireless technologies.
   • Describe support for productivity features such as teleconferencing, media playback, and other features that enhance worker productivity and collaboration.
   • Describe your strategy to support future emerging technologies, such as 5Gcapable Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) which may require cellular antennas to be angled or positioned differently than in traditional network designs.
   • Describe other plans for developing competitive infrastructure for cellular services in the project areas or ensuring long-term competitive access
7. Device Purchasing and Subsidization
   • Describe your approach regarding device acquisition, subsidization, and management, including device lifecycle replacement management.
   • What discounts, bulk purchasing benefits, or cost-sharing models would you propose?
   • How would you ensure compatibility with existing municipal devices, hardware, and operational standards, such as first responder priority services?
8. Digital Inclusion and Affordability
   • What benefits could your proposal offer to San Francisco residents, such as affordable access for low-income residents, including proposed service tiers, ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) participation, or other subsidy mechanisms.
   • Identify how your proposal will ensure equitable geographic coverage, including in historically underserved neighborhoods (e.g., Tenderloin, Bayview, Chinatown).
   • Detail any proposed outreach, device distribution, or digital literacy programs that could be offered in partnership with community-based organizations.

BUSINESS/FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

The City is seeking a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Municipal Cellular Network. In this model, one or more private sector partners may share the financial, operational, and construction risks of the project.

The City is open to a range of ownership and operational structures, including full City ownership, shared ownership, or other collaborative approaches. However, the City prefers a model in which it retains ownership of a portion of the network/equipment. The City is open to considering various funding mechanisms and business models, including, but not limited to, market-rate fiber leases, in-kind service exchanges (e.g., broadband services or dark fiber), or other forms of public-private partnerships. The City prefers a model where it maintains a role in managing the network’s ongoing operations, maintenance, and allows for public users (i.e. the carrier partner’s subscribers) to utilize the system created under the project.

Proposals that balance the City’s economic development goals with the partners’ return on investment will be viewed favorably. The respondent’s proposal should outline how this balance will be achieved and demonstrate a meaningful approach to utilizing the City’s assets in the network build-out.

Respondents are requested to propose financial models and risk management approaches clearly addressing:

1. Investment Expectations
   • Specify the nature and scale of any direct or indirect support you anticipate from the City (capital contributions, staff support, asset access, expedited permitting, etc.).
2. Revenue Sharing and Cost Models
   • Propose potential revenue-sharing structures or alternative financial models (e.g., infrastructure leasing, IRUs, hybrid approaches) beneficial to both parties.
   • Provide insights into how your model achieves sustainable financial outcomes and meets City objectives.
3. Risk Management and Guarantees
   • Clearly describe how risks (financial shortfall, technology obsolescence, low subscriber uptake) will be allocated and mitigated.
   • Detail any guarantees, performance bonds, escrow accounts, or minimum revenue assurances you would propose to safeguard both parties.
4. Technology Refresh and Long-term Sustainability
   • Outline your approach to future network upgrades to ensure alignment with evolving cellular standards and City operational needs.
5. Exit Strategy and Continuity Plans
   • Propose strategies ensuring continuity of critical services should your organization exit the partnership or undergo ownership changes.