City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: February 24, 2026
Agenda Item: 4.C
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Feroz Merchhiya, Chief Information Officer, Information Services Department Subject: Approval of Agreement with Granite to Migrate and Rebuild Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) Lines
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Granite Telecommunications, LLC for telecommunications services, including the consolidation and replacement of legacy Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines, for the Information Services Department. This recommended award is made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section
2.24.250(c), and is for a total amount not to exceed $1,463,517, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica (City) currently utilizes Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines to support various operational needs, including alarm systems, elevators, and other legacy services. The City’s incumbent POTS provider is Frontier Communications (Frontier). Historically, the City benefited from stable pricing under long-term, fixed-price contract terms. Those pricing protections have expired, and the City is now facing significant increases in the cost of maintaining POTS services.
To maintain service continuity and improve long-term cost predictability, staff evaluated alternatives to the City’s existing POTS services. This review also identified an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the City’s copper-based POTS 2 of 4
lines and reduce costs by decommissioning unused, redundant, or no-longer-needed lines.
Staff is seeking approval to enter into an agreement with Granite Telecommunications, LLC (Granite) to consolidate existing POTS services, transition lines to internet-based services, and establish fixed pricing over a defined term.
Discussion
The City maintains a significant number of POTS lines across multiple facilities to support operational and life-safety systems. Telecommunications providers nationwide are reducing investment in copper-based infrastructure, and legacy POTS services are increasingly subject to market-driven pricing and long-term sustainability concerns.
The City’s existing POTS services with Frontier were previously contracted under longterm rates which provided predictable pricing. With the expiration of those rate terms, the City is now exposed to anticipated cost increases. Given these conditions, staff evaluated alternatives to support continued operations while improving cost predictability and aligning with current telecommunications standards.
Granite Telecommunications, LLC provides enterprise telecommunications services designed to consolidate and replace legacy Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines with modern alternatives. Under the proposed agreement, Granite will provide consolidated billing, centralized service management, and Internet-based telephone line replacement services. The proposed services support a phased transition approach, allowing for implementation flexibility and improved inventory management.
The proposed agreement allows the City to establish fixed pricing over a defined term, improving cost predictability and reduce exposure to future rate increases. The transition also supports a comprehensive review of the City’s copper-based POTS lines, including the identification and decommissioning of unused or redundant lines, which supports future cost reduction.
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As telecommunications services continue to evolve, staff will monitor usage, adjust services based on operational requirements, and apply best practices to ensure the City’s telecommunications environment remains reliable, scalable, and cost-effective.
Vendor Selection
Exception to Competitive Bidding
Staff recommends Granite Telecommunications, LLC to furnish and provide telecommunications services as an exception to competitive bidding per the Procurement Division approved ECB# 366 pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.24.250(c).
Cooperative use approved by Procurement Division with the understanding that City use must be coterminous with cooperative term that has an expiration date of April 30, 2028. The City may request extensions, if and when OMNIA Partners utilizes the (2) additional one-year periods, with maximum use through April 30, 2030. c. Competitive procedures were followed by a governmental agency, federal, state, county, city, joint powers agency, special district, or cooperative purchasing agency and the goods or services are supplied to the City at the same or better price; Environmental Review
The proposed recommendation to authorize an agreement with Granite Telecommunications, LLC is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines (Common Sense Exemption). The proposed action involves telecommunications services and does not involve any physical expansion or construction activity. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no further environmental review under CEQA is required.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Information Technology Replacement & Services Fund to award an agreement with Granite Telecommunications, LLC for telecommunications services, including the consolidation and replacement of legacy Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines. Enterprise funds contribute and reimburse the Information Technology Replacement & Services Fund to cover the cost of their portion of Citywide telecommunications infrastructure and 4 of 4
individual lines.
Agreement Request
FY 2025-26
Request Amount
Future Years
Amount
CIP Account # Total Contract
Amount
$487,382 $976,135 C7100020.689000 $1,463,517
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Sarkis Metspakyan, Infrastructure and Cloud Services Manager Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. OAKS INITIATIVE FORM - Granite
B. Levine Act Disclosure Form - Granite