Spanish Fort to vote on fiber-optic contract

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SPANISH FORT – City workers and departments need more internet capability, officials said, but some council members questioned whether an updated contract could make improvements obsolete before the agreement expires.

The Spanish Fort City Council is scheduled to vote May 19 on a contract with Southern Light to provide fiber optic service to city departments. The city had a contact with Unity Fiber before Southern Light took over the company, David Conner, city attorney, said.

Under the updated contract, Southern Light will provide Spanish Fort with 200-megabit-per-second service, averaging to about 50-megabits for each city building served. In exchange, the city will give up service on four “dark fiber” lines that are connected to Spanish Fort buildings but are not being used.

Mayor Mike McMillan said the police and volunteer fire departments now have about 10-megabit service and need improvements.

“The bottom line is I’ve got to get something for the guy out there who really need our help,” McMillan said.

The contract runs for another 14 years. Councilman Bill Menas said 50 megabits is the standard rate now. He said that level of service could soon be obsolete.

“Where they’re putting us right now is where everybody is now,” Menas said. “That’s my only concern. Maybe it will give us some faster speed for a few years, but then, it may not be adequate, so if they need it now and we feel like it’s the right thing to do, I mean it gives them something better, but my only concern is, it’s what we have now. It doesn’t seem like it’s built for the future.”

Menas said the COVID-19 outbreak and the need for people to hold more meetings over the internet is an example of how unforeseen events can increase demands in ways that could not have been predicted.

“I have a feeling that a lot of meetings going forward, there’re going to be a lot more video meetings and I notice when there’s six or eight people in the office pulling off that same 50 on these video conferences, I notice that’s pretty hard on the speed,” Menas said.

Conner said the city had asked for 250 megabits total service and Southern Light offered to provide 200.

Councilman Curt Smith suggested that Spanish Fort could go back and attempt to renegotiate the contract before a final vote by the council.

“This comes down to negotiating I guess,” Smith said. “They’ll either give us more or they won’t. I don’t see any problem with asking for more, but at the end of the day, we do need it from somewhere.”