REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
October 20, 2026
FROM
DON LE, Chief Information Officer, Innovation and Technology Department
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment with Frontier Communications of America, Inc. for Countywide Telecommunication Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 24-678, including non-standard terms, with Frontier Communications of America, Inc. to add an additional services schedule for Session Initiation Protocol trunking, with no change to the not-to-exceed amount of $14,640,000 or the contract period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2029.
(Presenter: Don Le, Chief Information Officer, 388-5501)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Costs). The Innovation and Technology Department (ITD) operating costs are recovered via service rates approved annually by the Board of Supervisors (Board). The not-to-exceed amount of $14,640,000 is sufficient for the annual recurring charge of $47,174 for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking services added through Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 24-678 (Contract) with Frontier Communication of America, Inc. (Frontier) for the remaining period of the Contract through June 30, 2029. Sufficient appropriate is included in the ITD Telecommunication Services 2026-27 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ITD provides a variety of professional information technology and telecommunication services to all County departments and special districts. These ITD services include providing basic telephone services and call center services to County department users. The County’s telephone network requires trunking, a communication method that connects the County’s telephone network calls to the public telephone network.
The County’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system provides local and long-distance calling utilizing modern Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking to interface the County’s VoIP system to the public telephone network. SIP trunking will replace standard phone lines with a more modern trunking technology. This change will add more features to make the County’s telephone system and number plan easier to manage and troubleshoot, while improving redundancy with automatic failover capabilities.
On July 23, 2024 (Item No. 36), the Board approved the Contract with Frontier for countywide telecommunication services, through June 30, 2029, with a total not-to-exceed amount of $14,640,000. Amendment No. 1 to the Contract will add a new service schedule to the existing contract with Frontier for SIP trunking services, at a total cost of $47,174 annually, with no change to the not-to-exceed amount of $14,640,000 or the contract period. The Contract was competitively sourced through Request for Qualifications (RFQ) No. ISD124-TCS-5350 via the County’s Electronic Procurement Network to identify vendors to provide countywide telecommunication services.
Amendment No. 1 to the Contract revises the terms of the previously approved contract to include the following non-standard terms:
1. The County is required to indemnify Frontier for any liability arising from the County’s failure to provide required notices or otherwise related to the use of E-911 services, except to the extent caused by Frontier’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.
• The County standard contract does not include any indemnification or defense by the County of a contractor.
• Potential Impact: By agreeing to indemnify Frontier, the County could be contractually waiving the protection of sovereign immunity. Claims that may otherwise be barred against the County, time limited, or expense limited could be brought against Frontier without such limitations and the County could be responsible to defend and reimburse Frontier for costs, expenses, and damages, which could exceed the total Agreement amount.
2. Frontier disclaims all liability to the County for all claims related to the SIP trunking service for personally injury, death, property damage, and violation of the right of privacy of any person caused by mistakes, omissions, interruptions, delays, or error in the provision of, or access to, 911 services.
• The County standard contract does not include a limitation of liability.
• Potential Impact: Claims could exceed the liability cap and the Contract amount leaving the County financially liable for the excess.
ITD recommends approval of Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 24-678, including the non-standard terms, to add the SIP trunking service schedule to the Contract, which will allow ITD to use additional features to manage the County’s telephone system and call center for the remainder of the contract period.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Kaleigh Ragon, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on September 21, 2026; Purchasing (Lisa Zhu, Buyer III, 388-0529) on September 21, 2026; and County Finance and Administration (Lizveth Varela, Administrative Analyst, 387-4883) on September 28, 2026.