Recommend approval to award an annual contract for microwave network replacements from Williams Communications in the amount of $702,687.75. This is a joint venture with Chatham County to replace the obsolete microwave radio network with a new internet protocol (IP) based digital microwave radio network. The network supports all two-way radio communication used by public safety professionals and all other government services in the City, County, and other municipalities. The City’s portion of this purchase is $356,696.75 and the County’s portion will be $345,991.00.

The current analog microwave radio network is obsolete and is no longer fully supported. Additionally, certain current radio sites are temporary microwaves or landline and above ground circuits, which are susceptible to weather damage and other routine outages. The services under this annual contract will replace the existing analog microwave network with state-of-the-art IP digital microwave at all current radio sites. The project also adds microwave links to the City’s southside radio site, the County’s Tybee Island radio site, and adds links between the 911 Center and the radio network core location. The network provides full redundancy of service to all of City and County radio sites, increases the bandwidth of the microwave network to support other IP services, and hardens the connectivity for all of the sites to ensure virtually zero down time under all foreseeable conditions.

The MWBE goal for this project is 11% (11% MBE and 0% WBE). Williams Communications submitted MWBE participation of 11%, with 11% MBE using Quality Communication.

The contract term will be from June 8, 2017 through June 7, 2018.

Approval