Seeking Organizations Interested in Purchasing Telecommunications and Internet Access at Greatly-Reduced Pricing
to Participate in RFP
(East Stroudsburg, PA) – February 13, 2017 – More than 44 organizations participated in the recent broadband survey conducted by the Monroe County Gigabit Project. The survey results, announced on Monday, February 13th demonstrate the need for more affordable internet speed and telecommunications services in Monroe County. Project and community leaders urged organizations, small and large, to participate in the Project’s upcoming Request for Proposals (RFP). They emphasized the value of aggregating demand through the RFP by getting as many organizations as possible to participate. With more participating organizations, the RFP will offer an increasingly attractive prize for winning all or portions of the RFP thereby attracting more broadband providers, more competition with better pricing and services.
“As a member of the Monroe County 2030 Action Team, we are very pleased to see the extensive community support over the past meetings and by organizations completing the pricing survey,” stated Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., President, East Stroudsburg University. “Like many other participating organizations, broadband is very important to East Stroudsburg University, its staff and students.”
“It’s an exciting Project and it couldn’t be better timing,” said Janet Weidensaul, former County Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Monroe County Wide Task Force. “We need an open RFP process with an opportunity for as many organizations as possible to get involved. The RFP provides accountability and added competition and we certainly are encouraging every broadband company to bid,” she said.
“We are also very excited about the Project and the active participation from so many organizations,” added Chuck Leonard, Executive Director, Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation (PMEDC). “It’s good to interject competition into the process. Many strong organizations have attended the meetings and want to get better broadband,” Leonard said.
John Dolmetsch, President of Business Information Group (BIG) and Kelly Lewis, President of Lewis Strategic outlined the overall survey results and highlighted results from the 14 largest organizations. Both speakers gave examples of $1,000 Gigabit Cities and Smart Cities across the US. They commented on the pricing survey and expressed strong sentiments that the RFP would deliver excellent results. Dolmetsch said over the weekend his company received ten (10) RFPs for SmartCities from California communities.
“In Pennsylvania, one area of concern is everyone wants to buy broadband based on what they think they need today,” said Dolmetsch. “We believe the providers should try to make it more attractive to be forward-thinking. Like we plan for highways and bridges, we need to plan for the needed infrastructures for telecommunications and internet access,” he added.
Lewis outlined the Project’s next steps, emphasized the need to get as many Participation Letters and answered many good questions from audience members. Several guests expressed strong interest in participating in the RFP.
Since December, numerous broadband providers have attended the Monroe Gigabit meetings, asking questions. PenTeleData, a local broadband provider, told audience members of their 30-year commitment to the area and said they were interested in bidding on the RFP. The pricing survey revealed many broadband providers in Monroe County including, Verizon, PenTeleData, Frontier Communications, MetroCast Cable, Palmerton Telephone, KINBER, Blue Ridge Cable, Level 3 Communications, Verizon Wireless and Blue Ridge Communications.
This week, Lewis said organizations will receive the Intent to Participate Letters with instructions to review, sign and return the Letter as soon as possible. Then, the RFP team will quickly seek additional information pertaining to each organization’s property locations and desired connection capabilities for the RFP, he explained.
The Monroe Gigabit Project is hosted by the Monroe 2030 Action Team, Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation, and East Stroudsburg University. A state-of-the-art incubator and company-accelerator located off Interstate 80, the East Stroudsburg University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center is located 500 yards from Interstate-80 and 70 miles from NYC.
For more information contact: David Parker at David@LewisStrategic.com or 570.656.9232.
Upcoming $1,000 Gigabit meetings are scheduled for March 13, April 13 and May 12, 2017. To register, visit https://quantum.esu.edu/machform/view.php?id=168240.
@AcceleratePA is an implementation team speeding broadband, workforce and innovation initiatives across Pennsylvania. The Broadband Implementation team of Dellicker Strategies, Business Information Group and Lewis Strategic has successfully completed nearly 100 regional broadband projects in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Since 2003, industry-pioneer Dellicker Strategies has led broadband aggregation projects for schools, intermediate units, hospitals, doctors, corporations, agencies and communities. For additional information visit our website, www.PAaccelerationProject.com, and follow Accelerate Pennsylvania on Twitter @AcceleratePenna and on Facebook @AcceleratePA.
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