Broadband Partnerships

The City of Chesapeake (“City”) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to identify qualified partners to leverage the City’s Chesapeake Connects (CCX) broadband infrastructure as a regional, carrier-grade communications platform.

CCX consists of a high-capacity, municipally owned middle-mile fiber network designed to support:

• Carrier and wholesale transport services
• Dark fiber and conduit leasing
• Data center and interconnection ecosystem development
• Enterprise, government, and institutional connectivity
• Future Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) service expansion

The City’s objective is to position Chesapeake as a strategic interconnection hub within the Hampton Roads region, enabling scalable, redundant, and diverse connectivity for carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, and residents.

Through this RFI, the City seeks to engage entities capable of:

• Utilizing CCX infrastructure for transport, backhaul, and regional aggregation
• Leasing dark fiber and/or conduit under long-term agreements (e.g., IRU or lease)
• Establishing carrier-neutral Points of Presence (PoPs) and interconnection facilities
• Delivering retail FTTP/FTTH services, where applicable
• Participating in public-private partnership (P3) or investment-based models

This RFI is intended to:

• Validate market interest from carrier-grade operators and infrastructure investors
• Identify partners with proven ability to deploy, monetize, and operate fiber networks at scale
• Inform the City’s commercial, technical, and partnership strategy for CCX

Background

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE OVERVIEW

The CCX network is a municipally owned, open-access capable fiber platform designed for long-term scalability and multi-tenant use.

Please refer to the Chesapeake Connects (CCX) Network Architecture Overview under the Attachments tab for additional information.

Key characteristics include:

• ~175-mile fiber backbone ring spanning the City of Chesapeake
• High-count fiber infrastructure (e.g., 432-count backbone segments) designed for carrier and wholesale use
• ~210 planned endpoints, including:
  • Municipal facilities
  • Public safety sites
  • Schools and community anchor institutions
  • Strategic aggregation and access locations
• Diverse routing across major corridors, including crossings over water, rail, and critical infrastructure
• Integration with:
  • CBRS Private LTE network (for mobility and redundancy use cases)
  • LoRaWAN network (for IoT and smart city applications)
• Planned and existing locations suitable for:
  • Huts / cabinets / aggregation points
  • Carrier interconnection and PoP development
  • Future data center adjacency or edge deployments

The network is engineered to support:

• Dark fiber leasing at scale
• Wholesale and lit transport services
• Last-mile FTTP expansion
• Multi-provider interconnection

The City is seeking partners to activate and monetize this infrastructure.

CURRENT DEPLOYMENT STATUS

The CCX backbone conduit and fiber infrastructure are substantially constructed, with backbone fiber installation complete and lateral connections to endpoints actively underway. Initial pilot sites are being activated in phased deployments, with full network utilization expected to scale over the next 6–12 months.

The network is being integrated with regional transport providers and interconnection facilities to enable immediate and future service delivery.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 26-133-6328
• Department: Information Technology
• Department Head: TBD (TBD)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-06-02T18:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Desired Outcomes —

  The City seeks to engage partners capable of activating, scaling, and monetizing the Chesapeake Connects (CCX) infrastructure in a manner that delivers measurable economic, technological, and community impact.

  Specifically, the City is seeking partners who can:

  • Activate underutilized fiber capacity within 12–24 months  
  • Establish Chesapeake as a regional aggregation and interconnection hub  
  • Expand last-mile broadband availability through partner-led FTTP deployment  
  • Attract carriers, cloud providers, and digital infrastructure investment  
  • Deliver high-reliability, SLA-driven services to enterprise, government, and institutional users  
  • Support Smart City, public safety, and utility use cases through integrated infrastructure  

  The City is particularly interested in long-term, scalable partnerships that align public infrastructure with private-sector operational expertise and capital investment.

• Statement of Needs —

  The City is seeking responses from qualified entities capable of participating in one or more of the following strategic opportunity areas. Respondents may address one or multiple categories.

  The City is particularly interested in partners who can demonstrate execution at scale, financial capacity, and experience operating carrier-grade infrastructure.

  1. Dark Fiber and Conduit Leasing (Priority Opportunity)
     1. Long-term leasing of fiber strands via IRU or lease agreements
     2. Conduit occupancy for third-party fiber deployment
     3. Dedicated and shared fiber models
     4. Support for carrier, enterprise, and hyperscale use cases
  2. Wholesale Transport and Middle-Mile Services
     1. Provision of lit or dark transport services across the CCX network
     2. Regional and long-haul backhaul connectivity
     3. Integration with existing carrier networks and IXPs
     4. Support for:
        1. Wireless backhaul
        2. Enterprise connectivity
        3. Government and institutional traffic
  3. Point of Presence (PoP) and Interconnection Development
     1. Establishment of carrier-neutral PoP facilities
     2. Development of:
        1. Meet-me rooms
        2. Colocation environments
        3. Edge interconnection nodes
     3. Peering and interconnection strategies, including:
        1. Carrier-to-carrier interconnects
        2. Cloud on-ramps
        3. Internet exchange participation
  4. FTTP / FTTH Deployment and Retail Services (Optional but Supported)
     1. Design and deployment of last-mile FTTP networks leveraging CCX backbone
     2. Delivery of residential and commercial broadband services
     3. Customer acquisition, provisioning, and lifecycle management
  5. Network Operations and Infrastructure Management
     1. Operation of fiber infrastructure and active network components
     2. 24/7/365 NOC capabilities
     3. SLA-driven performance management
     4. Maintenance, restoration, and lifecycle management
  6. Financial and Partnership Models
     1. Capital investment strategies for network expansion
     2. Public-private partnership (P3) structures
     3. Revenue-sharing, concessionaire, or anchor-tenant models
     4. Risk-sharing frameworks

   

  The City has a strong preference for partnership models that:

  • Leverage private-sector capital and operational expertise
  • Enable rapid service activation and market entry
  • Align long-term incentives between the City and partner 
  • Support open-access and multi-provider competition

  Models may include IRU agreements, long-term leases, concessionaire structures, public-private partnerships (P3), or hybrid approaches.

• Response Requirements —

  Respondents should provide clear, concise, and experience-backed responses demonstrating their ability to execute at scale.

  1. Company Profile
     1. Organizational structure and ownership
     2. Relevant telecommunications or infrastructure experience 
     3. Existing network footprint (regional, national, or global)
  2. Relevant Experience - Respondents should provide project examples and metrics, including: 
     1. For Fiber / Transport Providers:
        1. Total fiber miles owned or operated
        2. Markets served and network topology
        3. Experience with IRUs, wholesale transport, and carrier services
     2. For Interconnection / Data Center Providers:
        1. Existing PoP, colocation, or interconnection facilities
        2. Peering capabilities and cloud connectivity 
     3. For FTTP Providers (if applicable):
        1. Homes/premises passed and connected
        2. Deployment scale and operational performance
  3. Technical Approach
     1. Proposed use of CCX infrastructure
     2. Network architecture and integration strategy
     3. Scalability, redundancy, and resiliency approach
  4. Commercial Model
     1. Preferred engagement structure (IRU, lease, revenue share, etc.)
     2. Capital investment approach
     3. Revenue and monetization strategy
  5. Operational Capabilities
     1. NOC capabilities (24/7/365)
     2. SLA framework and performance metrics
     3. Maintenance and restoration processes
  6. Chesapeake Market Strategy
     1. Target customer segments
     2. Planned services and use cases
     3. Estimated timeline for deployment or activation

  Respondents are encouraged to include diagrams, network architectures, and supporting materials where applicable.

• Submissions —
  1. This document is a Request for Information only. The City will not make any award of a contract, and may not take any further action on the basis of this Request for Information. Vendor's response will be treated only as information to the city for whatever use the City deems appropriate.
  2. The City will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by a Vendor in connection with this RFI or any response by any Vendor to this RFI. No compensation will be paid to vendors for responding to this RFI. The costs and expenses in incurred by a Vendor in the preparation, submission, and presentation of the response are the sole responsibility of the Vendor and shall not be charged to the City.
  3. Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originated and prepared for the City pursuant to this RFI shall belong exclusively to the City and be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by the Vendor shall not be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, unless otherwise required by law or a court; however, the Vendor must invoke the protection of Section 2.2-4342(F) of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data or other material is submitted. The written notice must SPECIFICALLY identify the data or materials to be protected and state the reason why protection is necessary. The proprietary or trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method such as highlighting or underlining and must indicate only the specific words, figures, or paragraphs that constitute trade secret or proprietary information. The classification of an entire response document, line-item prices, and/or total prices as proprietary, or trade secrets, is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Submission Requirements

• Upload your response here. (required)