EngagementS
Municipal networks
Town Of Vermilion
Community Broadband Project
Dec 2018 - Oct 2021
Following an engagement with the Vermilion River Regional Association in 2018, TaylorWarwick was engaged to complete a business case, business plan, and community broadband master infrastructure plan for the Town of Vermilion. Detailed evaluations for both fibre and hybrid fibre-wireless options under both wholesale and retail business model options were completed. With limited funding, a hybrid fibre-wireless pilot deployment focused on the south industrial area was established and became operational in 2020.
When private equity funding become available in early 2021, a joint venture partnership was then developed and a town-wide buried fibre-to-the-premise solution became possible - deployment is complete and public announcements and ribbon cutting ceremonies took place on November 1, 2022.
City of Brooks
Broadband Business Cases for Next Generation Broadband
Mar 2019 - Aug 2019
Led by the City of Brooks, and as a supplement to the Southern Alberta Connectivity Project, TaylorWarwick completed broadband business cases for open access utility network fibre deployments for 1 city, 5 towns, 5 villages, 5 counties, and 2 MDs in southern Alberta. The City of Brooks has since moved forward and, with a consortium led by Crown Capital Partners, is currently deploying a city-wide FTTP network.
Town of Valleyview
A Business Case, Business Plan, and Master Broadband Infrastructure Plan
Mar 2017 - Feb 2019
Following the stakeholder engagement session organized as part of the Northern Alberta Broadband Preparedness Project, the Town of Valleyview proceeded with three studies. Part 1 consisted of the business case and financials for the Town to deploy a fibre-optic network capable of delivering enhanced broadband services to Valleyview's business and residential communities. The business model assumed that the Town would obtain wholesale access to O-Net triple-play services as well as to their front and back-office support tools and network monitoring services, and then leverage internal town resources to establish local operations to market, sell, deliver, operate, maintain, and manage retail Internet, telephone, and television (triple-play) services throughout the community.
In Part 2, the Business Plan was developed to provided an overarching implementation template. Part 3, done in partnership with Magna Engineering Services, provided the Town with a Master Infrastructure Plan to help guide network deployment.
Since this work was completed, the Town has moved ahead with the assistance of Canadian Fibre Optics Limited and a full fibre-to-the-premise network has been completed.
Town of Okotoks
A Business Case for Next Generation Broadband
Apr 2017 - Nov 2017 · 8 mos
Recognizing both the opportunity and challenge associated with facilitating advanced fibre optic-based broadband infrastructure and services within their community, the Town of Okotoks commissioned this study following the broadband work led by the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). While the CRP work provided higher level direction, the more detailed conceptual level deployment estimates developed under this engagement provided the confidence levels in the financial estimates and the business and operational model evaluations required to enable Okotoks to more confidently set direction.
The base implementation scenario assumed to be of most interest to the Town was the model in which Okotoks: (1) deployed a lit fibre-optic network capable of delivering enhanced broadband services at speeds up to 40 Gb/s to Okotoks's business and residential communities, and (2) operated the network on an open access basis to provide wholesale access to the network for all ISPs and telecom and cable incumbents.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jvisovg3q0odvea/Okotoks%20BB%20Business%20Case.171124.pdf?dl=0
Olds Institute for Community & Regional Development
Broadband Network and Services Development
February 2010 to July 2012
Together, TaylorWarwick and the Olds Institute for Community & Regional Development (OICRD) successfully established the first and to date, only, sustainable community-based fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) network in Canada: O-NET now offers every resident and business in Olds, Alberta, Gb/s services and a complete triple-play services portfolio.
In support of this project, TaylorWarwick provided an extensive review of the available architectural, structural, and operational alternatives and developed the detailed financial models and Business Plan upon which the two-entity operational structure was established. More importantly, the availability of the O-Net triple-play services portfolio to any community in Western Canada significantly reduced the risk to any community considering community fibre deployment on a utility basis. O-Net, in essence, changed the game.
Regional Networks
Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board
Broadband Situation Analysis
Oct 2019 - Sep 2020
TaylorWarwick and RSM were engaged by the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB) to assist with the development of a regional Broadband Situational Analysis. The goal was to develop a consolidated and holistic view of the current broadband infrastructure, services, and service levels in the Region and provide information and analyses to guide future infrastructure development and governance decisions. The project provided detailed analyses of existing regional broadband strategies, infrastructure and service maps and data, provincial and federal broadband programs, and international trends and best practices. The results were validated and shared through facilitated workshops with key stakeholders which included 21 current and past EMRB member municipalities and various key ecosystem stakeholders such as Service Alberta, the CRTC, AUMA, RMA, and Edmonton Global, to name but a few. Overall, the project provided consultation on how the Region could approach broadband investments in a collaborative manner and provided EMRB with recommendations for how they could best facilitate the process.
Additional information, including the final project deliverables and report is available at:
https://www.emrb.ca/broadband.
Strathcona County
Broadband Internet Development
May 2020 - Dec 2020
Strathcona County commissioned this study to provide and quantify the options available to enhance broadband service availability in two areas and to examine the partnership options available to help make it so. Specifically, the work validated the state of broadband in Strathcona County and provided expert advice and financials to support the selected path forward.
This work followed up on an earlier, foundational study (December 2017 - July 2019) in which TaylorWarwick completed a comprehensive strategic broadband analysis, including the development of conceptual level urban and rural fibre designs and business model analyses for Strathcona County. Business and partnership models included dark and lit fibre, wholesale, and retail options. A resolution to move forward was passed by the Strathcona Council in June. 2019.
Southgrow Regional Economic Development
Tactical broadband options for Communities
January 2019 - June 2019
For nineteen communities within the SouthGrow Regional Initiative, TaylorWarwick completed an opportunity analysis and provided an array of inexpensive, high impact options with the potential to positively impact broadband services within the communities in the short term.
Calgary Regional Partnership
Regional Broadband Investigations
Feb 2016 - Jan 2018
The Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), in collaboration with local municipalities, provincial staff and partner organizations in the Calgary region sought to explore a range of very high-speed (gigabit) broadband opportunities, needs, benefits and strategic approaches relevant to the Calgary Region and local municipalities within it.
Taylor Warwick therefore undertook a program of research, consultation, analysis, strategy-making, engagement and the development of options and proposals related to the extension and enhancement of broadband/digital connectivity networks and services to each and all municipalities within the Calgary Regional Partnership area (the Region), including an examination of strategic opportunities and implementation options for the region as a whole.
For the CRP, TaylorWarwick completed two comprehensive studies:
- Landscape Issues - an in-depth review of the ICT industry, including an environmental assessment, a technology review, application trends, networks as utility infrastructure, benefits of broadband, learnings from others, the provincial context, wireless, and the role of the incumbents.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hznsd17z8zg9p5l/Trends.CRP.v4a.160814%20signed.pdf?dl=0 - Municipal & Regional Opportunities & Options - for the three cities, twelve towns, eight villages, and four municipal districts comprising the CRP, provided a current state analysis, the desired state, areas of opportunity, and business case assessments including structure and financials for the options of most interest to the region.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/15alow7819zkx1w/Opportunities.CRP.v2b.160826.pdf?dl=0
All recommendations were unanimously adopted by the Board in September 2017.
Alberta HUB and the Northern Alberta Development Council (NADC)
Regional Broadband Analysis and Strategy Development
Sep 2016 - Sep 2017
For a consortium of the five Northern Alberta REDAs and the Northern Alberta Development Commission (NADC) TaylorWarwick completed the largest broadband study in Alberta to date. In this study, based on current state, desired state, and gap analyses, options and strategies, together with sample designs and financials, were developed for regions that together spanned all of the Northern Alberta. These studies are available on the NADC website at:
http://www.nadc.gov.ab.ca/our-actions/initiatives/broadband-preparedness-project/
BACKHAUL NETWORKS
Strathcona Regional District
Strathcona Connected Coast Network
Apr 2019 - Nov 2019
Together, Taylor Warwick and Roel Coert (then with Great Northern Engineering Consultants) completed a financial and operational review of the Strathcona Connected Coast Network (SCCN). With $45.5 million in federal Connect to Innovate (CTI) funding, the SCCN involved the deployment a sub-sea backbone fibre-optic network that would provide backhaul connections to 154 rural and remote communities along the west coast of British Columbia (BC). Of this, $32.97M was to enable the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) to provide service to 118 of these communities.
Deployment of the SCCN is currently underway.
Palliser Economic Partnership
Southern Alberta Connectivity Project
May 2018 - Apr 2020
To reduce backhaul costs and thereby enable smaller communities to facilitate enhanced broadband services on a financially sustainable basis, TaylorWarwick completed a detailed business case for a novel, resilient, ring-based backhaul network linking 22 southern Alberta communities. The proposed network was to leverage available dark fibre and provide up to 100 Gb/s wavelength-based services on an essentially fixed-price-basis for 20-years. Interestingly, the study was complemented by a second study focused on assisting each of the communities with the local/last mile options available to them should the connectivity network be put in place.
Financial Analyses
ATCO Power Canada Ltd.
Financial Analysis for a Province-Wide Fibre Network
Mar 2019 - Jul 2019
In support of ATCO Power's interest in potentially pursuing a provincial broadband deployment, TaylorWarwick provided all underlying economic and financial analyses for the wide range of wholesale, retail, fibre, and wireless options ATCO was investigating.
PARTNERSHIPS & ACQUISITIONS
Olds Institute for Community & Regional Development / O-Net
OICRD / OFL Negotiating Committee
May 2020 to July 2021
With no prior notice, on May 22, 2021, the Boards of the OICRD and OFL (in which Craig was a founding Director) received notification that the Town of Olds wished to take direct control of O-Net operations and explore opportunities to divest the asset.
On behalf of the OICRD and OFL, a Negotiating committee was established and spent the next year exploring acquisition and partnership options for OFL. National and international telecom, ISP, and private equity firms were brought to the table and several now remain active in the province - indeed several had plans for multi-hundred million dollar expansions into Alberta. In the end, the OICRD was disbanded and a municipal services corporation was established for OFL. As the Mayor was defeated in the October 2021 election, acquisition plans did not move forward and OFL continues to provide triple-play services to Alberta communities.
Corporation of the Township of Scugog
Broadband Business Case to Support the Acquisition of an ISP
Jun 2015 - Dec 2015
In exchange for an option to purchase a local ISP, the Ontario Township of Scugog was to provide the matching funds required for the ISP's successful Connecting Canadians grant application to provide fibre-based services to a rural area locally known as Scugog Island. Taylor Warwick developed the Broadband Business Case for the acquisition, expansion, and ongoing operations of the ISP which, together with two related public meetings, were required to fulfill the mandatory requirements of the Ontario government pursuant to the acquisition of the ISP and the establishment of a municipal services corporation to house the acquired assets.