The city is looking for a business partner it hopes will make Kamloops a leader on the information highway. The city has just put out a request for proposals (RFP) for any business interested in partnering as it moves into the second phase of the Kamloops Community Network (KCN) program. The purpose of the partnership is to provide a high-speed, low-cost telecommunications infrastructure to Kamloops businesses through a fibre-optic network. The KCN is the city’s publicly owned and operated high-speed communications utility. The fibre-optic network can hold much more information than the traditional copper wire system currently offered. If copper wire is a two-lane road of information, fibre optics is a six-lane freeway. The city completed phase one of the KCN in 2005 at a cost of $1.1 million, connecting city hall, the school district and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. At the time, the city left room on the fibre-optic network for private companies to join the system.
Now, Kamloops is looking for a communications company to piggyback off the current system to further extend it into the business sector. The KCN is an information-service exchange, a marketplace where businesses can buy services from multiple suppliers, all based out of city hall. The cost of phase two is expected to be $2 million, but that cost would likely be borne by the partner. Just how the partnership would look still needs to be worked out through the RFP process, but the city believes there is an opportunity for a company to make some money. The expansion would be run by the partner, which could in turn charge a monthly fee as it recruits businesses to connect to the service. Sally Edwards, the city’s finance director, sees the epansion as a way of attracting economic development. “If we make that available to businesses in certain sectors, they may want to relocate here,” she said. The growing high-tech industry would likely be most interested in joining the network. Edwards estimates the KCN saves Kamloops $8,000 a month. It’s made possible because the city doesn’t have to pay for communications between its own buildings, something it did before the KCN was established.The city was planning a phase three that would extend the fibre-optic infrastructure to residential homes; however, at a cost of $50 million, it is far too expensive a venture.
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