Fort Dodge FTTP Feasibility Study and Design

Challenge: Fort Dodge, Iowa, is a city with a population of approximately 25,000. Residents, businesses, and anchor institutions have clearly stated that current broadband coverage is not as reliable, fast, or as affordable as required. HR Green was chosen to provide Fort Dodge FTTP feasibility options for the City to achieve better broadband connectivity.

Because Fort Dodge is a forward-thinking community, they explored a range of options, from building and operating a municipal network to providing infrastructure to work with private partners. City leadership wanted to maintain community control over connectivity in Fort Dodge. The challenge was to provide a process through which the City could explore its options to select what was the best for their community.

Solution: HR Green analyzed current assets in the City, led Smart Community and 5G discussions, performed high-level designs of the most probable options, and developed feasibility models for each of those options. Leadership required HR Green to move nimbly to evaluate design alternatives and adjust the financial models. By providing active engagement in the design review and open access to HR Green’s feasibility models, City leadership understood clearly how to compare options and alternatives.

The City moved forward with building a municipal network. HR Green led the design of the community-owned and operated fiber-to-the-home network and provided construction phase services during deployment. Design commenced in 2021, and construction began on the two-year, $40 million build in 2022.

HR Green provided detailed design and Project Management Office (PMO) services, including contractor selection and management, inspection, and material handling responsibilities. HR Green staff held regular meetings to track construction progress and verify that the contractor completed the installation per the design and installation specifications.

Because of long lead times for materials, HR Green worked with manufacturers and vendors to develop a first-in-the-nation process in which the City purchased materials with flexible and coordinated terms and delivered them directly to the contractor. This has taken a great deal of communication and coordination and has proven a successful method for Fort Dodge that can be utilized on other projects for materials and financing.

Benefit: The municipal network will not only bring gigabit-capable broadband to the community, but the materials and financing approach has saved the City more than $500,000 in price increases and interest charges.

“We felt we were treated as [HR Green’s] only client. Our project went so well we rehired them for the next phase of mid-level design. I believe rehiring is the most accurate way to reflect our satisfaction with HR Green.”

– Fort Dodge Assistant to the City Manager