OneCleveland :: OneCleveland Strategy

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OneCleveland Strategy

OneCleveland grew out of a major investment by Case, starting in the spring of 2002, to upgrade its network infrastructure. The goal of that investment was not just to equip Case with the best technology - the new network is 10 to 100 times faster than those on most other campuses - but also to leverage the university's investment to serve the entire community.

Gonick won commitments from other major IT players, including the CEO of Cisco Systems, and he started pitching his idea to the technology administrators at Cleveland's other leading cultural institutions, asking them to engage their CEOs.

In May 2003, then-Mayor Jane Campbell gathered a group of CEOs at City Hall and urged them to sign on to the ultra-broadband initiative, and commit to it for five years.

In October 2003, OneCleveland was incorporated as a nonprofit of equal partners: Case; Cuyahoga Community College; Cleveland State University; the City of Cleveland; the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority; the Municipal School District; ideastream (the local PBS and NPR affiliate); Cuyahoga County Public Library; and NorTech, Northeast Ohio's Technology Coalition, a group of technology and business leaders.

From the start, OneCleveland has been financed in two ways: directly by its nonprofit subscribers - and membership continues to grow - and through in-kind donations and grants. Case invested $2 million and provided leadership and staffing. City Signal Communications donated the bulk of the fiber, valued at over $1 million. Cisco provided most of the equipment needed to "light" the fiber and provide wireless access. And IBM Global Services provided technical expertise.

Private sector grants - especially from The George Gund Foundation and The Cleveland Foundation - are another substantial source of funding, adding up to over $1.2 million in fiscal 2005 alone. Government funding, on the other hand, has been minimal: $200,000 from the City of Cleveland and $500,000 from the State of Ohio - to help extend OneCleveland to other communities.

The project's main long-term revenue stream is user fees. Members pay $7,000 to $200,000 per year for various levels of service, a savings of 30 to 50 percent from market rates due to the pooling of expenses. Those savings are the heart of the business case for subscribing. But OneCleveland stresses that it doesn't wish to be just a lower-cost ISP, but also the enabler of collaborations among its members through high-tech applications. Those collaborations, however, face financial challenges, too, and many have yet to be implemented.

Self-sufficiency remains a long-term goal: OneCleveland's budgets for calendar years 2005 through 2007 show gifts, grants, and contributions making up the overwhelming majority of revenue (total revenue was $4.5 million in 2005 and is projected at $5 million in 2006 and at $6.1 million in 2007). In fiscal 2005, gross receipts for services and other business income made up only 20 percent of total revenue; by fiscal 2007, this number is projected to rise only to 29 percent.

Operating costs for OneCleveland in 2005 were $1,436,434. Cost projections for 2006 are $4,278,901 and $5,753,662 for 2007.

Below are links to descriptions of some of the projects developed or planned for OneCleveland: