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High-Speed Network for the City of Toronto
The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee recommends the adoption of the recommendations of the Budget Committee embodied in the transmittal letter (February 18, 1998) from the Budget Committee.
The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee reports, for the information of Council, having noted that the Corporate Services Committee requested the Chief Financial Officer to submit a report directly to Council for its meeting scheduled to be held on March 4, 1998, clarifying the benefits to be achieved by implementing this high-speed fibre network.
The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee submits the following transmittal letter (February 18, 1998) from the Budget Committee:
Recommendations:
The Budget Committee on February 17, 1998, recommended to the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, and Council:
(1) the adoption of the recommendations of the Corporate Services Committee wherein it is recommended that the report (February 2, 1998) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services be adopted; and
(2) that the Chief Administrative Officer and the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer report to the next Budget Committee meeting with respect to the financial information system, any plans for future computerization and the matter of software changes to correct the year 2000.
Background:
The Budget Committee on February 17, 1998 had before it a letter of transmittal (February 16, 1998) from the Corporate Services Committee advising that the Committee on February 16, 1998 recommended to the Budget Committee, and Council, the adoption of the report (February 2, 1998) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services regarding a high-speed network for the City of Toronto.
Councillor Ron Moeser, Scarborough Highland Creek, appeared before the Budget Committee in connection with this matter.
Councillor Bas Balkissoon, Scarborough Malvern, declared his interest in this matter in that he is an employee of Bell Canada.
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(Transmittal letter dated February 16, 1998, addressed to the
Budget Committee from
the Corporate Services Committee)
Recommendation:
The Corporate Services Committee on February 16, 1998, recommended to the Budget Committee and Council, the adoption of the report (February 2, 1998) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services.
The Corporate Services Committee reports, for the information of the Budget Committee and Council, having:
(1) requested the Chief Financial Officer to submit a report directly to Council for its meeting scheduled to be held on March 4, 1998, clarifying the benefits to be achieved by implementing this high-speed fibre network; and
(2) requested the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team to consider a more streamlined process for dealing with budget items that require Budget Committee approval prior to final approval of the Operating and Capital budget, and report thereon to Council.
Background:
The Corporate Services Committee on February 16, 1998, had before it a report (February 2, 1998) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services seeking approval to implement a high-speed fibre network to support the business and operating practices of the City of Toronto; advising that this will allow for the consolidation of computing resources required to run Corporate systems, such as Tax and Vital Statistics; that it will provide the connections necessary to access these and other resources from Civic Administration Centres; that the Chief Financial Officer has proposed that the operating costs of $569.1 thousand be funded from the transition fund; that the account number provided is CP950-J00950; that Capital funding for this project, in the amount of $498.2 thousand, is included in the 1998 to 2002 capital works program; and recommending that:
(1) capital funding, in the amount of $498.2 thousand, for data cabling, hardware and configuration services be allocated to connect to the global network for the City of Toronto;
(2) funding, in the amount of $569.1 thousand over the next three years be allocated for hardware maintenance and the lease of termination equipment and high-speed network services;
(3) the necessary officials be authorized to enter into contracts for the acquisition, implementation and maintenance of the global telecommunications network for the City of Toronto over the next three years;
(4) Bell Canada be awarded a contract for the provision of high-speed network connectivity and data cabling for one year with two optional years; and
(5) the appropriate officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action in order to give effect thereto.
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(Report dated February 2, 1998, addressed to the
Corporate Services Committee from the
Commissioner of Corporate Services.)
Purpose:
This report seeks approval to implement a high-speed fibre network to support the business and operating practices of the City of Toronto. This will allow for the consolidation of computing resources required to run Corporate systems, such as Tax and Vital Statistics. It will also provide the connections necessary to access these and other resources from the Civic Administration Centres, including audio/video broadcasts and the ability for members of Council to share data between their City and Community Council offices.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
The Chief Financial Officer has proposed that the operating costs of $569.1 thousand be funded from the Transition fund. The account number provided is CP950-J00950.
Capital funding for this project, in the amount of $498.2 thousand, is included in the 1998 to 2002 capital works program.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) capital funding, in the amount of $498.2 thousand, for data cabling, hardware and configuration services be allocated to connect to the global network for the City of Toronto;
(2) funding, in the amount of $569.1 thousand over the next three years be allocated for hardware maintenance and the lease of termination equipment and high-speed network services;
(3) the necessary officials be authorized to enter into contracts for the acquisition, implementation and maintenance of the global telecommunications network for the City of Toronto over the next three years;
(4) Bell Canada be awarded a contract for the provision of high-speed network connectivity and data cabling for one year with two optional years; and
(5) the appropriate officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action in order to give effect thereto.
Council Reference/Background/History:
Effective January 1, 1998, the Borough of East York, the Cities of Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Toronto, and York and the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated to form the new City of Toronto.
One of the first information technology challenges the new City of Toronto faces is to create a single network leveraging the existing networks of the seven amalgamated organizations. The network will enable communications between Council Members and staff at single or multiple locations, provide internet or intranet access to Corporate Information and enable interactive access by the public to elected members, information and services. In addition, it will enable the consolidation of financial reporting, support a single-site implementation of application systems such as the Tax system and support other integrated office automation initiatives.
The recommendation from the IT Service Review Team, in its Budget and Organizational Options Addendum Report, as endorsed by the Toronto Transition Team, identified this first phase of the network implementation as a priority project. The report confirms that major nodes on the network, such as the civic administration centres, should be connected using high-end network solutions.
Corporate applications such as the Tax, Vital Statistics and Healthy Babies Healthy Children applications will be implemented across the new City in the first quarter of 1998. In order to meet these implementation deadlines, alternate solutions such as multiple ISDN lines will have to be used to connect the outstanding sites.
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
When connecting network sites, technology solutions range significantly in capacity and price. Network capacity is measured by the amount of data (bits) that can be transmitted per second. Low-end connectivity solutions can be provided using ISDN lines or Centrex Data lines, where ISDN is not supported. Mid-range solutions can be provided using radio frequency, T1 or LAN Emulation over ATM. High-end solutions use fibre optics.
Currently the network connectivity between the Toronto City Hall and Metro Hall administrative centres and the Computer Data Centre at 703 Don Mills Road is a fibre-optic network. The other administrative centres are connected using ISDN lines. Large distributed nodes, such as the Records and Archive Centre, and the Printing and Graphics Site, are connected using T1 lines. Smaller distributed nodes are connected using a combination of dial-up service, Centrex Data, ISDN and Radio Frequency.
For planning purposes it has been assumed that the seven civic administration centres will continue to be major nodes in the global network with multiple service requirements for a large number of staff.. The large staff population will require access to productivity tools. This will drive the need for a high-capacity global network to connect these sites to the centralized Computer Data Centre. This report proposes that these seven nodes be connected using a high-speed network. In addition, this report recommends that the Archives and Records centre and the Ambulance Headquarters also be connected as part of the initial implementation.
With application architectures moving towards multi-media, browser-based access, and high-volume graphics, high-speed networking will be essential to the organization.
Currently the amalgamated organizations deliver office automation/productivity software such as word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software using Novell=s file and print services. Novell requires high-capacity networks to deliver its services at an acceptable performance level.
A centralized data centre would provide consolidated server platforms for application and data services. By consolidating smaller distributed servers, resources are maximized, as they are required to manage, maintain and operate fewer platforms. Without consolidation, there would be a requirement for server platforms at each major node. These distributed platforms would require on-site staff to manage, maintain and operate these resources. Staffing requirements for a distributed environment would be larger as the ability to share and spare employees would be restricted. In addition, the synchronization of data and the ability to obtain corporate information would be made significantly more complex.
In order to provide centralized administration of distributed services, it is recommended that fibre-optic technology be utilized to provide the high-speed wide area connectivity required. This technology has a significant lifetime - in excess of 20 years. It should also be noted that network protocols such as FDDI, ATM and gigabit-Ethernet service all utilize fibre optics.
A Request for Quotation (RFQ) was issued on November 4, 1997. The City of Toronto Purchasing Department notified 94 vendors that the RFQ was being issued, 24 vendors picked up a copy of the RFQ and 6 bids were evaluated to determine the most cost-effective method for implementing the high-speed network.
The options considered for Phase 1 were either buying the fibre or leasing the fibre. The lease option was for a one-year term with the second and third year optional with a penalty for not taking up the optional years.
The opportunity to bid was provided to both public and private vendors and carriers. These included public utilities, telecommunication providers and private companies. The RFQ closed on November 20, 1997. The recommended solution was selected based on the cost-effectiveness and the ability to meet the implementation schedule.
Bell Canada was the successful bidder. The Bell lease price for the fibre was significantly lower than the next solution, which was a purchase alternative.
The Quotations have been reviewed by Purchasing and Material Supply and they concur with the recommendation. The Manager, Fair Wage and Labour Trades Office, has reported favourably on the firm recommended.
Bell has proposed a leased-fibre solution with the necessary termination equipment offering high-speed connectivity to an ATM Core Network. Their proposal is based on a monthly lease payment for three years. The Transition Team directed staff to enter into one-year agreements. As a result, penalty clauses for cancellation during the two optional years are being negotiated. As a result of Bell=s current fibre install base, they have agreed to a target implementation date of 10 weeks from contract approval.
Upgrades to the cabling of the administrative centres will occur in parallel with the implementation of the high-speed global network. Again Bell Canada was the successful bidder. They provided a flat rate proposal for the 900 data cable drops, which equates to $86.10 per drop, which was significantly lower than all other quotations
The following table outlines the expenditures over the next 3 years:
1997 1998 1999 Total
$ $ $ $
Capital:
Hardware 365,190
Configuration 55,500
Cabling 77,489
Subtotal 498,179 498,179
Operating:
Maintenance 54,779 54,779
Leased Lines** 153,180 153,180 153,180
Subtotal 153,180 207,959 207,959 569,097
Total 651,359 207,959 207,959 1,067,276
The next phase of the network implementation, addressing remote sites, is subject to clarification of the business and operational components of the new City and the finalization of the employee population density at each location. This implementation is planned over a 24-month period.
Conclusions:
A leased solution for the implementation of the high-speed fibre network will provide the City of Toronto with a cost-effective solution that requires minimal up-front capital investment. Additional benefits of this proposal include lower implementation risk and greater flexibility for expansion and upgrades in future.
Contact Name:
Lana Viinamae, 392-4548
Jim Andrew, Interim Lead, Information & Technology
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