Agenda Item Wording:
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Authorize Purchase of Equipment and Services from T-Mobile: Authorize the City Manager to enter into a (5) year contract with T-Mobile to provide cellular services in an amount not to exceed $670,000, to purchase equipment from T-Mobile in an amount not to exceed $300,000, and appropriate $90,324 for 5G mobile routers for Police vehicles.
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Deadline for Action: 10/7/2024
Submitting Department: Finance and Technology Services
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Jaime Salazar, Information Systems Supervisor, 559-713-4121 Jaime.salazar@visalia.city
John Howson, IS Manager, 559-713-4122 john.howison@visalia.city
Renee Nagel, Finance & Technology Director, 559-713-4375 renee.nagel@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Visalia City Council authorize the City Manager to enter into a (5) year contract with T-Mobile to provide cellular services in an amount not to exceed $670,000, to purchase equipment from T-Mobile in an amount not to exceed $300,000, and appropriate $90,324 for 5G mobile routers for Police vehicles.
Background Discussion:
In 2020, Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a contract with T-Mobile to provide cellular services for City phones and devices. There are currently 357 lines of service with T-Mobile. These cover a range of devices from smart phones, tablets, wireless irrigation controllers, field time clocks, drones that relay video signal, smart cameras, vehicle safety monitoring, real-time field collection, public safety in-car camera systems, and more. In April 2020, following the Council approval in January of 2020, the City was able to secure 323 lines of smart phone service from T-Mobile for Public Safety at no cost through April of 2030 as part of their Connecting Heroes program.
Staff evaluated service plans and coverage from the top cellular providers in our region, AT&T, FirstNet, T-Mobile, and Verizon. After extensive testing it was determined that T-Mobile and Verizon provided the best coverage, and that T-Mobile provided the most cost effective plans.
City technology staff first moved smart phones and devices that had limited impact to T-Mobile. After additional testing with Public Safety and Transit staff feels comfortable moving the in-vehicle routers for Police, Fire, and Transit to T-Mobile. Staff is recommending that we move 207 lines of service from Verizon to T-Mobile. This would result in an annual savings of $15,900 ($79,500 in savings over the 5 year contract period).
Updating Current Equipment
When the Public Safety vehicle fleet was first outfitted, the City only had reliable 3G and 4G coverage. Of the 157 mobile routers used by Public Safety, 121 do not support 5G. With the vehicles all recording video and the increase in technology needs, 5G support is now becoming a critical necessity. Additionally, we have been notified by T-Mobile that new towers are only operating at 5G service and new 4G service will not be installed. Staff is recommending that we upgrade the 121 4G only devices to 5G capable devices.
The City has standardized Cradlepoint devices for the City’s mobile fleet. The R1900 5G mobile router is an updated version that supports 5G, this is a ruggedized commercial router designed for vehicle fleet use. The R1900 router has a list price of $3,099. The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) contract available to State and local agencies provides a 25% discount off the list price, for a sale price of $2,324. In an effort to reduce costs further staff contacted T-Mobile to see if there were incentives to move service and if they could provide the R1900 at a discount. T-Mobile has agreed to sale the R1900 to the City at a cost of $840, 73% off list price.
When the initial agreement with T-Mobile was reached in 2020 T-Mobile provided the Police Department with 130 iPhone 8 devices at a discount. The discount was due to the phones already being 3 years old. The iPhone 8 platform is now 7 years old and is no longer receiving updates and battery life is becoming an issue. Staff established a General Fund CIP(EQ0207) in the current budget (FY24/25) to replace these devices. Staff is recommending that these devices be replaced to maintain current security updates and provide battery life that would cover an entire shift.
Fiscal Impact:
Monthly service is currently budgeted in each departments operating budget which is estimated to be $133,500 annually. The equipment purchases recommended total $300,396 as shown in the table below. Of this amount staff is requesting an additional appropriation of $90,324 for the 99 patrol cars’ Cradlepoint mobile router upgrades. This equipment is needed for the Axon fleet system upgrade that is being requested in a separate agenda item tonight.
|
Service |
Monthly Cost |
|
357 lines of existing T-Mobile Service* |
$3,500 |
|
*This includes a monthly discount of $6,358 for the Public Safety phones as part of the Connecting Heroes program |
|
|
207 lines of service being moved from Verizon to T-Mobile |
$6,955 |
|
20 additional devices over contract life |
$670 |
|
|
|
|
Total Monthly Cost |
$11,125 |
|
Total Annual Cost |
$133,500 |
|
Total 5 Year Cost |
$667,500 |
Equipment Purchases
|
Qty |
Device Type |
Cost |
Funding Source |
|
22 |
R1900 5G mobile routers for Fire |
$20,072 |
CIP EQ0238 ($93,800) |
|
99 |
R1900 5G mobile routers for PD |
$90,324 |
General Fund appropriation |
|
130 |
Smartphone replacements for PD |
$150,000 |
CIP EQ0207 ($150,000) |
|
40 |
New and replacement devices over the next 5 years |
$40,000 |
Operating Budgets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total 5 Year Equipment Cost |
$300,396 |
|
Prior Council Action: In January 2020 Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a (5) year agreement with T-Mobile for cellular services in an amount not to exceed $150,000 annually.
Alternatives: Direct staff to keep the existing cellular services with their current providers.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
Authorize the City Manager to enter into a (5) year contract with T-Mobile to provide cellular services in an amount not to exceed $670,000, to purchase equipment from T-Mobile in an amount not to exceed $300,000, and appropriate $90,324 from the General Fund for 5G mobile routers for Police vehicles.
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Attachments: TMobile_City_of_Visalia_-_Cradlepoint_Devices.pdf