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FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, September 4, 2017 — The City of Portsmouth, Virginia has selected Federal Engineering, Inc. (FE) to develop a strategic plan for a City fiber optic network.

“Portsmouth would like to determine the feasibility and cost of connecting 20 City buildings with high speed fiber optic cable for voice, data, and video traffic, indicated Mr. Ronald F. Bosco, Federal Engineering’s President and CEO. FE will perform, in conjunction with its subcontractor Magellan Advisors, LLC of Denver, Colorado, the following tasks in the development of the strategic plan:

• Conduct interviews to assess the long-term needs of the City itself for an expanded fiber infrastructure to support transportation, communications, technology, wireless, disaster recovery, emergency communications, smart signs, and smart City applications.
• Hold interviews with each community anchor to gain an understanding of their current and future broadband and technology needs.
• Complete a broadband market analysis utilizing online surveys to understand perceptions around broadband services, inventory current services, test speeds across the community, and identify issues.
• Perform a market analysis to determine the services that are available, providers, service levels, pricing, and access. Both publicly owned and privately owned networks will be included.
• Develop a gap analysis that identifies the key broadband issues for City departments and community anchors.
• Develop a top level broadband network design utilizing existing City conduit, fiber, facilities, and other assets. Identify the new infrastructure that will be required to meet the needs of the City and its anchors as determined in the needs assessment.

The culmination of these tasks will document the core strategies for Portsmouth in development of its municipal and community broadband strategic plan. The Plan will describe the over-arching needs, requirements, benefits, costs, and goals of Portsmouth moving forward with its municipal and community broadband initiatives, to economic development and job creation, education, healthcare, business, residents, and other areas. The plan will also include short, mid and long-term milestones to achieve the desired goals.”

FE provides a wide range of broadband wireless and land mobile radio analysis, design, procurement support, and implementation management services for public safety, public service, transportation, and energy organizations. The firm also provides telecommunications systems design, security analyses, disaster recovery planning, strategic assessments, product analyses, market research, and business planning services in telecommunications and related fields.

As a leading, nationwide communications systems planning and design firm, Federal Engineering develops voice, data, and video networks for numerous firms including aerospace, energy, finance, education, publishing, and computer services. In addition to its private sector work, FE has completed thousands of communications projects for 46 state governments, as well as numerous local and federal government clients. FE’s certified independence ensures that clients receive objective, unbiased consulting services that are not influenced by any particular technology, product, vendor, or approach.