Aurora project leaders envision their new cellular services partnership constructed upon three pillars.

Cellular Connectivity

Aurora sits at the intersection of Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will Counties in Northeastern Illinois. City employees may live or conduct their work for the city in the afore-mentioned counties along with nearby Cook County. Finding a partner that can provide reliable LTE coverage across this jurisdiction is an essential element of this project. 5G capabilities are preferred, where available. Beyond supporting the evolution of remote work capabilities, many roles in the City require field work without any loss of communication and connectivity.

Beyond the connectivity standard the City hopes to achieve for all ~1,200 employees through this project; Police, Fire, EMT, and other first responder entities require an additional level of prioritization. Project leaders are interested in learning more about how you support high-priority phone numbers and emergency communication.

Device Management

Aurora project leaders seek a managed service partner to provide ongoing device support and refresh. The proposed service level and partnership on top of the actual cellular device packages is key. Stakeholders seek a prompt, streamlined process for notifying the partner of a device issue, working through whether the issue requires a repair or replacement, and swapping out those devices at no additional charge. Ideally, an Aurora employee can experience a terminal malfunction on their City-issued cell phone on Monday, and have a fully operational replacement before the end of the week.

Beyond this service, project leaders seek periodic enterprise-wide device refreshments. As mentioned above, many current devices were manufactured in the mid- to late- 2010s, and the City seeks a partner that will keep employees much closer to the current release schedule. As part of the contract with the recommended partner, Aurora will seek a specific device refresh schedule. Project leaders will consult with their recommended industry partner on the right cadence for this turnover, but their initial timeframe places this at every 2.5 years.

The exact device packages and assignments will be finalized with a recommended vendor, but the City generally needs late-model cell phones, tablets, and a variety of specialized communication devices. The City is open to a tier program based on employee type and need that mirrors their personal computing/laptop model.

Value-Added Services

As part of this large new initiative, the project team is interested in learning how this partnership can be leveraged to benefit a suite of City priorities.

Community Initiatives: The paramount importance of communications infrastructure in modern life and the ongoing gaps in coverage leave people behind. City leadership is particularly invested in addressing this digital divide and seeks partners who share this priority. They would like to learn more about any initiatives designed to support educational institutions and expand coverage to the digitally underserved in Aurora's community.

Equity Initiatives: City leadership wants to learn more about its potential partners and how they seek to develop. These include equity goals your company has placed on itself, how it decided upon them, and current progress towards meeting them.

Employee Benefit Initiatives: Given how many Aurora employees would be utilizing the new cellular network for work communications, the project team wonders if there would be discount available to these employees if they wished to switch over their personal phone contracts to your service. This is not necessarily a requirement for a potential partner, but the City wishes to learn about what is available.

Summary

Aurora project leaders seek comprehensive cellular service support over a long-term partnership. The Vendor Information and Response section on the following pages will give you the opportunity to detail your bid for the City's business and will touch on many of the facets described above. Project leaders aim to make a selection by the end of 2023 for a January 2024 contract start date.

Before fully adopting this large shift in City communications, project leaders may seek, at their discretion, a pilot to confirm network coverage claims by the recommended partner. Project leaders envision the pilot as running several weeks and involving SIM card trade-outs with existing City phones to confirm necessary coverage throughout the City's jurisdiction.

Procurement Portal

Cellular Services