HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOR-20-021 - Execution of Agreement Renewals - Waterloo Region Education and Pubilc Network (WREPNet)REPORT TO:Committee of the Whole
th
DATE OF MEETING:December 14, 2020
SUBMITTED BY:Murray,Dan,Director Technology Innovation and Services,519-
741-2200ext. 7825
PREPARED BY:Murray, Dan, Director Technology Innovation and Services, 519-
741-2200 ext. 7825
WARD(S) INVOLVED:All
th
DATE OF REPORT:December 9, 2020
REPORT NO.:COR-20-021
SUBJECT:Execution of Agreement Renewals Waterloo Region Education
and Public Network (WREPNet)
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute the fourth renewal agreement, as
a partner in the Waterloo Region Education and Public Network (WREPNet), with
Rogers Communications Partnership for the provisioning and supply of a dark fibre
network for a 5 year period beginning September 1st 2021pending successful
renegotiationby WREPNet partners; said agreement to be to the satisfaction of the
City Solicitor; and
That the Manager, Procurementbe authorized to execute a renewal agreement, as a
partner in the Waterloo Region Education and Public Network (WREPNet),with
Softchoice LP for the management and support of the WREPNetnetwork, for a 5 year
period beginning January 1st2021; saidagreement to beto the satisfactionofthe
City Solicitor; and further,
That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute an amending agreementto the
WREPNet Joint Venture Agreement,with all Waterloo Region Education and Public
Network (WREPNet) partners party to the Joint Venture Agreement;said agreement
to be to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:
WREPNet has been an extremely successful partnership among local public institutions
for over 20 years and continues to provide greater network access at a fraction of the
costs for all partners.
The recommendations support continuing as a partner in this collaborative partnership.
This report supports the delivery of core services.
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
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BACKGROUND:
In January of 2000, the City of Kitchener entered intoa joint venture with the Region of
Waterloo, the City of Waterloo, the City of Cambridge, the local school boards, the
Cambridge and Waterloo library boards and Conestoga College. The purpose of the joint
venture was to implement and operate an affordable, dedicated, high speed fibre optic
network for the educational and public sector institutions across the region. This fibre optic
network which is referred to as Waterloo Region Education and Public Networkor
WREPNetis widely utilized and has grown from the original 227 sites to over 358sites in
the past 20years.
WREPNetis a prime example of how municipal governments and other public sector
partners can work collaboratively to reduce cost, enhance network access and share
services. The WREPNetmodel has been extremely effective for the past 20years.
WREPNetis quite unique to the region and is an envied model of many of our surrounding
municipalities.
Current members of WREPNetinclude;
Regional Municipality of Waterloo
City of Kitchener
City of Waterloo
City of Cambridge
Waterloo Region District School Board
Waterloo Catholic District School Board
Waterloo Public Library
Kitchener Public Library
Conestoga College
Grand River Hospital
Services of Waterloo
The WREPNetjoint venture is structured by a framework of legal agreements which include;
1.A cost sharing agreement amongst the partners based on number of sites. This
agreement needs to be amended to add new members to the joint venture partnership and
define responsibilities of participation in the governance model. This agreement outlines
the responsibility of each partner to manage billing of the two agreements (described below)
directly with the respective organizations and that all shared costs will be broken out by
partner on a per site basis.
2.A lease agreement to supply and maintain dark fibre optic cabling for the WREPNET
network. The original agreement was signed between the partners and Fibretech
Telecommunications Inc. on August 1, 2000. It was then assumed by Atria in 2005, and
then again assumed by Rogers Communications Partnership in 2013. This agreement has
been renewed a total of three times for five year terms.
3.An agreement to provide support and implementation services and management of
the entirenetwork for the partners. The original agreement was signed between the partners
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and Unis Lumin Inc., and was assumed in 2011 by Softchoiceand was renewed again in
2016.
REPORT:
st
The current agreement for dark fibre with Rogers expires August 31of 2021and the
st
agreement for network management and support with Softchoice expires December 31
2020. Both contracts include a provision for a 5-yearrenewal term. The end dates of the
agreements are intentionally separated to allow for less disruption to the WREPNET
partners in the case of a non-renewal. The WREPNET partners collectively agreed to renew
the contract with Rogers well in advanced of the renewal date to ensure any changes to
costs could be accommodated for in the 2016 budget planning cycles, aswell as to ensure
the ongoing interest of Rogers to continue to support the partnership and the model as it
was assumed from Atria.
The overarching agreement with Rogers allows for an adjustment in monthly cost per site
at the end of each 5-yearterm. This adjustment is based on Consumer Price Index
throughout the previous term.
In order to extend the current agreements with both Rogers and Softchoice they must be
signed by the City of Kitchener and all other WREPNET partners who have all voted in
agreement to pursue renewals to both agreements.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This report supports the delivery of core services.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Capital BudgetAll costs to fund the portion of the costs for WREPNET
have been budgeted for in the 2021budgetfor the WREPNet project.Increases to the
pricing of the dark fibre optic services are tied to the increase of the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) over the course of the previous contract term. Anticipated increases have been
planned for in the 10-yearcapital budgetforecast.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
the council / committee meeting.
COLLABORATE The WREPNetpartnership has involved a number of local public sector
entities in a very cost effective and successful collaborative venture for well over 20 years.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
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FCS-15-049Execution of Agreement Renewals Waterloo Region Education and
Public Network (WREPNet) sought authorization to execute the last required agreement
renewals.
APPROVEDBY:Victoria Raab General Manager, Corporate Services
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