Bradenton near deal with Verizon on wireless data service

BRADENTON – The city may be able to avoid paying a fortune right away to keep its wireless service if Verizon signs off on a new deal.

IT director Staci Cross told the Bradenton City Council at its workshop on Wednesday that she is close to an agreement to convert the city's service to Verizon from Alltel, which Verizon bought.

The city originally contracted with Alltel, she said, but after the acquisition happened, Verizon would only replace inoperative Alltel cards with Verizon cards that are not compatible with the city's network.

"We can't continue to operate with what we've got," Cross said. "But we can't make any changes until we convert to the Verizon network or another provider."

There are about 135 cards in use, mostly by the Police Department but also by the building department and fire inspectors as well, and only a couple of Alltel cards are left. Cross said she is considering taking cards from those whose data transmission needs are less important so she has spares.

The city needs to convert because the contract is up in August, and there's a price increase coming, so the council needs to make a decision about whether to go with another provider or stick with Verizon.

Her research found that the other providers on the state contract are charging the same or more, so there's no bargains to be found. The mergers in the wireless industry have left few companies out there, she said.

Either way, a cost increase is coming, Cross said.

It could cost the city $1,100 a month more, unbudgeted, to either go to Verizon now or another provider. One option, she said, is to wait until August and defer that payment.

"If we wait until August, then we only have August, September and October left in the budget year," Cross said.

But they are having support issues and can't change cards, she said.

The three options are:

1. Switch to Verizon now and incur the cost.
2. Wait until August, then go to Verizon.
3. Switch providers in August.

On Tuesday, though, she spoke to Verizon and got a deal that if approved would be budget-neutral for the city.

They could switch to Verizon now, and there would be no increase in cost until the new fiscal year. "Provided that goes through, I'm asking for approval to sign with Verizon," she said.

It would not cost the city more until the next budget year, she said, and added she was confident it would go through.

Councilman Harold Byrd Jr. said that it would be on the consent agenda at the next meeting, and confirmed that it would not affect the current budget.

Councilman Bemis Smith asked if the city was satisfied with Verizon, and of course there was the cost concern. Did they consider AT&T?

"From a cost perspective, they're a wash," Cross said.

The Sheriff's Office is using Verizon and they're happy, she said. While the city has never done that kind of business with Verizon Wireless, Cross said she's dealing with the same people who were at Alltel.

"It would just be a quicker conversion," she said.

Councilman Patrick Roff said it seemed like there were two good options for the city, deferring and making a deal with Verizon.

"This was a big issue a month ago, until it got in the paper from our last meeting," Cross said. "So we had some additional discussions with them. I've very pleased with their response."

Byrd said the city should move forward with the plan for Verizon.

More agreements

Cross said that a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement will be on the next meeting's consent agenda, too. She budgeted $100,000 and it came in at $85,000. It's a three-year contract.

It licenses all the software on their computers, including patches, and Office 2007 is available to all users. In addition, they will eventually be moving to Windows 7, the latest operating system version.

There will also be technology training vouchers, an employee cost of $10 for personal copies of Office 2007, and it makes sure they are legally licensed at all times.

Cross said she also wanted to change the city's voice and data provider, which will save the city $800 a month and will also provide new firewall and better tech support. They can also do IP telephony with the new network they will get, she said.

Finally, she said that she can move forward on a document management system that's easier to use and less expensive, though the transition will take time. The new system will also lessen the need for tech support, she said, and will offer disaster recovery.

"Again, this is budget neutral," Cross said. "I have already budgeted for this change."