[Fredslist] Fwd: MAYOR BLOOMBERG LAUNCHES COMPETITION TO INSTALL FREE FIBER CABLE WIRING IN GROWING BUSINESSES ACROSS THE FIVE BOROUGHS

[Gail Koelln]

I'm going through old emails from earlier this month and found this. I thought some Gotham members might want to know about it.

Gail

Gail Koelln, Certified Professional Coach
Coaching Family Members Caring for Elderly Relatives
(718) 776-7284
gkoelln at inspiredperspectivescoaching.com
www.inspiredperspectivescoaching.com


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Melva Miller <MMILLER at queensbp.org>
> Date: October 19, 2012 3:28:51 PM EDT
> Subject: MAYOR BLOOMBERG LAUNCHES COMPETITION TO INSTALL FREE FIBER CABLE WIRING IN GROWING BUSINESSES ACROSS THE FIVE BOROUGHS
> 
> MAYOR BLOOMBERG LAUNCHES COMPETITION TO INSTALL FREE FIBER CABLE WIRING IN GROWING BUSINESSES ACROSS THE FIVE BOROUGHS
>  
> ConnectNYC Will Lead to the Wiring of 240 Businesses for Free Over the Next Two Years
>  
> Part of City’s Larger Set of Initiatives to Expand New York City’s Broadband Connectivity and Increase High-Speed Internet Access for Both Industrial and Commercial Businesses
> 
> Time Warner Cable Business Class and Cablevision Partnering with the City to Expand NYC’s Fiber Network 
>  
>                 Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the launch of ConnectNYC, an innovative City-sponsored competition to encourage growing commercial and industrial businesses in New York City to apply for free fiber cable wiring and to ensure the City continues to establish itself as a leader in connectivity and innovation in the 21st century. The competition - the first in a suite of initiatives originally announced by the City in June – is designed to assist small or medium-sized businesses in unwired or underwired buildings by providing an opportunity for free, fast-track wiring. Beginning today, companies can apply through a competitive process being led by the City’s Economic Development Corporation. Awards will be given to companies based on a set of evaluation criteria, including how additional connectivity will help them grow their businesses, the potential to improve broadband infrastructure in underserved areas, and the business’ proximity to other applicants. Once the winning businesses are selected, Time Warner Cable Business Class and Cablevision, which have partnered with the City on this initiative, will commence free fiber build-out, with over 100 businesses expected to be fiber wired in the first year of the program. By the end of the second year of the program the total number of businesses is expected to reach 240. The application process for ConnectNYC officially begins today and will be open through November 27th, 2012. Winning companies are expected to be announced in early 2013.
>  
> QUOTES
>  
>                 ConnectNYC is being led by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and ChallengePost, a New York City startup that enables competitive public problem-solving. The goal of the competition is to capitalize on New York City’s existing advantages in connectivity and innovation, while also addressing long-term challenges facing the City and the nation in this area. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees in all five boroughs and across all industries are eligible to apply through the competition website: www.NYCFiberChallenge.com.
>                
>                 Applications can be submitted by individual businesses only, and will be evaluated on proximity to areas currently underserved by broadband infrastructure; proximity to other applying businesses in order to encourage clustering and efficiency in broadband installation; and the anticipated impact of having broadband access on business operations. As part of the application process, applicants must obtain a signed letter of consent from their landlord at the time of submission. Once selections have been made, businesses chosen to participate will be required to sign a one-year service contract with a participating Internet Service Provider at negotiated market rates prior to being eligible to receive fiber build-out. The partnering Internet Service Providers - Time Warner Cable Business Class and Cablevision - will then begin fiber wiring over 100 winning businesses, continuing on their previous commitments to deploy fiber optics to areas across New York City. The value of the total fiber wiring being provided by Time Warner Cable Business Class and Cablevision during the full two year program will equal $12 million and will reach approximately 240 businesses. In order to ensure the competition serves businesses across all sectors, a minimum of 25% of the overall award value will be granted to businesses located in Industrial Business Zones.
>  
> QUOTES
> 
>                 Thanks to rapid growth in New York City’s technology sector, as well as a number of groundbreaking City-sponsored initiatives, including Applied Sciences NYC, New York has recently gained universally-recognized momentum in technology and innovation. However, despite these advantages, there remain challenges in this area that must be addressed in order to maintain this momentum and ensure a global leadership position for the future. These specific challenges fall into three separate categories, including:
> The “Last Mile,” in which broadband infrastructure exists within the streets and the avenues but  is not connected to buildings where businesses can utilize them, particularly within a number of emerging high-tech neighborhoods across the City;
> “Digital Deserts,” in which there are underserved pockets in industrial and manufacturing neighborhoods that lack broadband infrastructure in the surrounding streets; and
> The “Digital Divide,” a national problem, which persists in the City with low-adoption rates for broadband connectivity within low-income communities.
>                 ConnectNYC seeks to address these challenges by creating a way to accelerate fiber infrastructure build-out in areas of the City that otherwise may have taken longer, and efficiently bringing together commercial and industrial business demand for fiber broadband connectivity.
>                 In addition to ConnectNYC, the City’s suite of larger broadband initiatives features a variety of other innovative programs that will be implemented over the course of the next several months. These include:  WiredNYC, a building certification program that will evaluate the broadband infrastructure of New York City buildings in order to encourage and accelerate deployment of leading broadband technologies; NYC Broadband Connect Map, a crowd-sourced, dynamic website in which businesses can learn about connectivity availability and capabilities in a given building or neighborhood; Broadband Express, an initiative led by the NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation designed to simplify operational issues as well as regulatory hurdles for Internet Service Providers (ISPs); and CitizenConnect, a competition led by NYCEDC and DoITT - in partnership with Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) - to develop mobile applications that will help City residents access workforce development opportunities, jobs listings and worker support programs such as childcare, healthcare and transportation. 
>  
>  
> From: Joseph Coletti 
> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 6:18 PM
> To: Alexandra Rosa (arosa at queensbp.org)
> Cc: 'Melva Miller'; Xavier Beltran
> Subject: Broadband Announcement
>  
> Alex/Melva,
>  
> Tomorrow, DM Steel will announce a set of broadband initiatives at a forum sponsored by the Association for a Better New York. We wanted to give you a heads up that this is happening, plus include some general info so you have an idea of what he’ll be saying ahead of time. I just want to emphasize three quick things:
>  
> We will find time to discuss in more detail and are happy to set up briefings in the weeks ahead.
>  
> There will be an opportunity for the City to make recommendations to service providers for areas to target for new broadband infrastructure, something that will be tied to information provided in the new Broadband Connect Map.
>  
> City Hall wants each BP to play a role in that process, however details are not fully baked at this point.
>  
>  
> Here’s the short summary of the initiatives being unveiled by DM Steel tomorrow:
> ConnectNYC: a competition to build out fiber connectivity for commercial and industrial buildings across the five boroughs. While the wiring of certain previously-underserved areas, like the Brooklyn Navy Yard, is now underway, through ConnectNYC, the City will assist small and medium-sized businesses, including industrial businesses, in unwired or underwired buildings to apply for free fast-track wiring. Companies would apply through a competitive process that will make awards based on a demonstration of how additional connectivity would help them grow their business.
>  
> WiredNYC: a building certification program that will evaluate the broadband infrastructure of New York City buildings in order to encourage and accelerate deployment of leading broadband technologies. This program will create transparency about broadband infrastructure in the commercial real estate market, giving businesses information about a building’s connectivity when choosing where to locate, and allowing  landlords to market their buildings’ assets and compete for tenants. This program, and the associated grading standards, will be structured in partnership with both the real estate industry, as well as the tech sector.
>  
> NYC Broadband Connect map: building upon the success of the Made in New York Digital Jobs Map recently released by Mayor Bloomberg and Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne, the NYC Broadband Connect map will fill knowledge gaps in the market. The Broadband Connect map will be a crowd-sourced, dynamic website in which businesses can learn about connectivity availability and capabilities in a given building or neighborhood. The map will incorporate multiple sources of data, such as the WiredNYC grades and information from several NYC fiber providers who are partnering with the City, including Optical Communications Group (OCG), Reliance Globalcom, Zayo and RCN. Finally, the most important source of information will be from businesses around the City that will share details on their current service, as well as the type of service they would ideally like to have in their buildings – allowing the City’s broadband companies to understand where the demand for service exists.
> Broadband Express: the City, under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway and Citywide Chief Information and Innovation Officer Rahul Merchant, will, working in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation, begin a process of simplifying operational issues as well as regulatory hurdles for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The City will immediately identify a City point-person for ISP street operations permitting as well as other related issues. This position will help ensure that businesses get the service they need when they need it, and the City will soon begin to commit to processing all standard broadband-related street operations permits within two business days, on average, and gather data in order to be held accountable.
>  
> Digital Divide: Building on the work that City is already doing to target the “Digital Divide”, including the expansion of more than 100 free public computing centers across the five boroughs and the securing of tens of millions in federal Recovery Act monies to increase broadband access for public school students and families, NYCEDC and DoITT, in partnership with Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), will create a competition to develop mobile applications that will help City residents access workforce development opportunities, jobs listings and worker support programs such as childcare, healthcare and transportation.  These services typically require a computer or laptop, which many low-income City residents do not have access to in their homes. While residents seeking jobs can currently use computers at public computing centers across the five boroughs, including any one of the City’s 15 Workforce1 Centers, providing these unconnected communities with access to services via available mobile platforms – which have much higher penetration throughout the City than other forms of technology – will better connect the City and community based organizations and the services they provide to their clients. Working closely with the tech sector, this competition will bring together service delivery organizations as well as developers to brainstorm challenges and develop prototype solutions that will assist residents and increased economic opportunities.
>  
>  
> Melva M. Miller, MSW
> Director, Economic Development
> Office of the President, Borough of Queens
> 120-55 Queens Boulevard
> Kew Gardens, NY 11424
> (718) 286-2655
> (718) 286-3134 Fax
> MMiller at queensbp.org
>  
>  
>  
> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail communication, and any attachments, contains confidential and privileged information for the exclusive use of the recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by replying to this message and delete this communication from your computer. Thank you.
> 

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