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20 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 Timeline of Relevant Events Past, Present and Future (Reverse Chronological Order) <br /> 3 <br /> 4 • October 2021 —A 36-month pilot project will be complete and the Manager and <br /> 5 staff will offer a final report to the Board <br /> 6 • September 2019 — Potential Phase 2 start date. <br /> 7 • May - July 2019—Verification of service across the entire Phase 1 area. <br /> 8 Customers will be getting signed up and service delivered. <br /> 9 • April 2019 — First Phase 1 customer will be signed up proving that initial equipment <br /> 10 setup is working <br /> 11 • March 2019 — Manager requests Board approval for Open Broadband tower <br /> 12 agreement <br /> 13 • October 2018 — Contract with Open Broadband was executed and the six-month <br /> 14 clock to sign up the first customer and have them working begins. <br /> 15 • September 2018 — Board approved awarding grant funds to Open Broadband. <br /> 16 • May 2018 — RFP is advertised as per the County Attorney's recommendation. <br /> 17 • March 2018 — RFP vendor(s) selection commences <br /> 18 • January 2018— Broadband RFP closes and vendor interviews commence <br /> 19 • November 2017 — County solicits Broadband Request for Proposals (RFP) <br /> 20 • June 2017 — $500k for broadband incentives approved in County budget <br /> 21 • Late 2016 — County works with Representative Graig Meyer to set meeting with <br /> 22 CenturyLink. This meeting paved the way for CenturyLink to provide budgetary <br /> 23 numbers for improving broadband in its service area and those numbers were used <br /> 24 as a base number for the FY 2017-18 $500,000 Broadband Incentive. <br /> 25 • September - December 2016— IT met with Federal Engineering and Emergency <br /> 26 Services to discuss the positive impact proposed telecommunications towers may <br /> 27 have on broadband services in rural Orange County. It was requested at that <br /> 28 meeting that approximately 15' of vertical strata be reserved for placement of 3rd <br /> 29 party wireless broadband equipment on any new towers to be constructed by <br /> 30 Orange County. Discussions also included how both the County's <br /> 31 telecommunication and fiber plans have synergies that may decrease long range <br /> 32 costs and offer a more secure and reliable fiber connection to each proposed tower <br /> 33 location. <br /> 34 • July 2016— Former Governor Pat McCrory released the NC broadband strategy <br /> 35 report. No funding identified within this report for broadband improvements. <br /> 36 • May 2016—The County's public network buildout was completed in downtown <br /> 37 Hillsborough and all County-occupied buildings. <br /> 38 • March 2016 —WiFi-to-Go pilot began via collaboration by IT and the County <br /> 39 Library. <br /> 40 • March 2016 —The State assisted Orange County with identifying vertical assets - <br /> 41 understanding the location and availability of county-wide vertical assets is <br /> 42 important to businesses that want to bring wireless internet services into Orange <br /> 43 County. <br /> 44 • December 2015—An ISP meeting on State/County collaboration occurred. <br /> 45 • Late 2015—The Orange Public + Education Network (OPEN) formed to foster <br /> 46 collaboration and cost-sharing among Orange County and its municipalities. <br /> 47 • August 2015—The County's Broadband Survey closed. <br /> 48 • June 2015 —The County's Broadband Survey was released. <br /> 49 • April 2015—The Broadband Initiative resident group was formed. <br />