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Sept. 13, 2013
Marlene H. Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th
St, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Re: Notice of Ex Parte presentation in: WC Docket No. 13-184
Dear Ms. Dortch:
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013, Jen Leasure (President and CEO of The Quilt), Don Welch
(President and CEO of Merit Networks), Joe Freddoso (President and CEO of MCNC), John
Gillispie (Executive Director of MORENet), Pankaj Shah (Executive Director of OARNet) and
the undersigned met with Commissioner Pai and Nick Degani. The conversation focused on the
attached talking points and presentation. (Because of the large size of the presentation, it is
being filed in three separate sections.)
If there are any questions about this filing, I can be reached at (202) 256-9616.
Sincerely,
John Windhausen, Jr.
President
Telepoly Consulting
Consultant to The Quilt
(202) 256-9616
cc: Nick Degani
2442 NW Market Street #68
Seattle, Washington 98107 www.thequilt.net
Sept. 10, 2013 The Quilt Talking Points on E-Rate Reform 1 Contact: Jen Leasure, President, The Quilt at [email protected]
Scalable Infrastructure to Achieve Broadband Goals for Schools
Investing in Scalable Broadband Connections: The Quilt believes it is important to set national broadband capacity goals for our country’s schools and libraries to emphasize the importance of affordable broadband access in preparing students to compete in a 21st century global environment. Based on the experience of the Research and Education Networks (R&E Networks), the key to putting schools and libraries on a sensible path toward these goals is to invest in scalable infrastructure that is able to expand in a cost-effective way to match the demand for higher capacity broadband connections over time by individual schools and libraries.
Determining the Best Long-Run Approach: Capacity requirements will undoubtedly grow
for each school and library over time as our national goal pushes toward ever higher capacities in the future. Where utilization data and financial analysis supports it, fiber optic solutions are most likely to offer the best long-run approach because fiber networks can be upgraded to add additional capacity in the future simply by changing the electronics. In the case of fiber, the E-Rate program should not distinguish between eligible costs for lit versus dark fiber. To determine where school or library ownership of fiber is a feasible alternative, a return on investment calculation showing how the capital investment ameliorates annual bandwidth costs should be part of the analysis. Several Quilt members use a 3-5 year ROI on fiber builds to justify the capital investment. Having said this, the E-Rate program should not pick winners and losers among technologies arbitrarily. Applicants should have the flexibility to use the best and most cost-effective technology for each location. Upfront capital investments now will allow program dollars to go further while providing the flexibility to scale to meet the demands of educators and students into the future. Where cost effective to do so, program funding should support necessary modulating electronics necessary to enable scalable infrastructure investments as well as special construction charges.
2442 NW Market Street #68
Seattle, Washington 98107 www.thequilt.net
Sept. 10, 2013 The Quilt Talking Points on E-Rate Reform 2 Contact: Jen Leasure, President, The Quilt at [email protected]
Flexible Infrastructure Needs the Appropriate Service Delivery Model for Schools and Libraries: The E-Rate program should place a value on services that can support fluctuations or spikes in network usage, such as those around standard testing intervals for K-12 schools, without requiring schools and libraries to over-provision connectivity to meet specific requirements of these flash events. Through effective aggregation and management, such as that provided by the R&E Networks, providers can work with schools to recognize when sustained network use increases over time require bandwidth upgrades. The E-Rate program should incent increased circuit commitment in a cost-effective, incremental fashion as schools and libraries demonstrate the demand for it while recognizing that we must also work within the limits of existing capabilities of commercially available equipment solutions which support specific connection types, e.g. 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps connections.
Network Quality Counts for Schools and Libraries: While the capacity of the connection is
important in achieving the goals of digital learning, the quality of the connection is just as important to achieving our broadband goals for schools and libraries. Schools and libraries need reliable, dedicated connections in order to utilize learning applications. Not only is network uptime critical, but also symmetrical connections (same speed up/down), full committed information rates, low network latency (the amount of time required for a data packet to get from point A to point B) and jitter (variability in the timing of data packet arrival). These are all vital to supporting e-Learning initiatives such as distance learning, videoconferencing, on-line testing and are important to consider when evaluating the value of broadband connection. A few examples provided below highlight the types of applications commonly used by schools and libraries and how quality of service and speed impact the use of each.
2442 NW Market Street #68
Seattle, Washington 98107 www.thequilt.net
Sept. 10, 2013 The Quilt Talking Points on E-Rate Reform 3 Contact: Jen Leasure, President, The Quilt at [email protected]
Schools
Network latency is especially important with high-definition video applications such as those used for remote classrooms and distance learning. A high latency connection, one which delays or drops packets, will make real-time communications look and sound jittery, distorted, or garbled. Voice and video communications become choppy and unsynchronized. Video frame rates may drop. When schools do not receive the full throughput of their broadband connection, on-line testing data may compete with administrative data which may compete with classroom instruction data at any given point during an academic day. This contention results in packet delay and loss while requiring additional technical resources to help plan for and prioritize network use.
Libraries
Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Study “Connections, Capacity, and Community: Exploring Potential Benefits of Research and Education Networks for Public Libraries”, February 2011.
Desktop Video chat
High
Low
Speed Requirements Basic High Speed
Cloud Computing /
Virtual Desktop HD /Room
Videoconferencing
Streaming Video
Instant Messaging
Web Browsing
Email File Sharing/ Transfer
Database/ Content Access
Real - Time Simulation/ Education
VoIP
1
2
3
Zones denote increasing importance of premium connectivity:
Basic connectivity is sufficient Premium connectivity is helpful Premium connectivity is critical
1 2 3
2442 NW Market Street #68
Seattle, Washington 98107 www.thequilt.net
Sept. 10, 2013 The Quilt Talking Points on E-Rate Reform 4 Contact: Jen Leasure, President, The Quilt at [email protected]
Bandwidth Must Reach the Users: It is not enough that there is a high capacity connection
to the edge of the school network. This type of bandwidth must be accessible in the classroom where instruction and learning occurs. If a school is able to gain access to affordable connectivity to each building, but does not have the resources to purchase equipment to utilize the upgraded services and disburse the connectivity throughout the building to the classrooms, then the benefit of the capacity investment goes unfulfilled. A modernized E-Rate program should recognize the importance of internal connections through committed, recurring program funds.
Education Does Not End at 3 PM: E-Rate reform must address home connectivity for
underserved students in some tangible way. Building upon the FCC’s extended school hour program and allowing a strategy where the school or library becomes an after-hours hot spot by inviting a commercial provider to share the school’s E-Rate funded infrastructure are two possible strategies.
Consortia Applications Yield Pricing Improvements and Greater Efficiencies: The
knowledge, experience and relationships held by consortium applications such as the R&E networking community promotes partnerships with a range of service providers and results in lower pricing to schools and libraries than they would be able to negotiate independently. The opportunity for a larger volume, multi-site contract which lowers administrative costs for the provider is frequently the incentive for providers to bid on more of the individual sites of a consortium application rather than just a single opportunity. Based on a site-by-site evaluation of responses, consortia determine the best technology and value for the particular site and in doing so, awards contracts to multiple vendors. The benefits of consortium purchases extend into technical support where consortium buyers often get higher priority in technical support. Consortium buyers often get access to flexibly priced last mile circuits that allow connectors to grow into higher bandwidth commitments in an economical and efficient fashion.
Slide 1
September 10, 2013
The Quilt
A Collaboration of U.S. Research and
Education Networks
Slide 2
September 10, 2013
The Quilt
Quilt members are our country’s not-for-profit networking organizations
serving research and education with similar missions to; support research and
education, collaborate, manage advanced networks, provide advanced
networking services and further knowledge and innovation.
The Quilt aims to influence the national agenda on information technology
infrastructure, with particular emphasis on networking for research and
education. Through this coalition, Quilt members collaborate to promote the
delivery of networking services at lower cost, higher performance and greater
reliability and security.
The Quilt is a non-profit collaboration of our country’s advanced regional
research and education networks. Created in 2000, The Quilt is a member-
powered, vibrant forum where leaders from these networks come together to
exchange knowledge, experience and ideas to collectively advance networking
for research & education.
Slide 3
September 10, 2013
OARnet
Accelerating Ohio’s Future
Slide 4
September 10, 2013
OARnet
Backbone
Connections
Slide 5
September 10, 2013
Middle Mile Connections
Pre-BTOP Funding
Impact:
OARnet’s Network
Middle Mile Connections
Post-BTOP Funding
Slide 6
September 10, 2013
Middle Mile Community Anchor Institutions As Provided by OMMC Partners
K-12 Schools 622
Libraries 166
Medical/Healthcare 353
Community Colleges 25
Public Housing 476
Public Safety 407
Other Higher Ed
Institutions 19
Other Community
Support Orgs. 612
Other Gov. Facilities 722
Total CAI 3,424
K-12 Schools 705
Libraries 165
Medical/Healthcare 279
Community Colleges 12
Public Housing 377
Public Safety 322
Other Higher Ed
Institutions 16
Other Community
Support Orgs. 504
Other Gov. Facilities 488
Total CAI 2,868
K-12 Schools 1,403
Libraries 94
Medical/Healthcare 189
Community Colleges 39
Public Housing 0
Public Safety 74
Other Higher Ed
Institutions 14
Other Community
Support Orgs. 29
Other Gov. Facilities 36
Total CAI 1,878
Slide 7
September 10, 2013
Last Mile Connections Change in last-mile connections to higher education organizations
Updated May 21, 2013
Capacity Prior to OARnet Implementation
2003 Current OARnet
Connections 2012
100 Gigabits (pending) 0 3
10 – 99 Gigabits 0 12
1 Gigabit – 9 Gigabits 0 65
100 Mbs – 999 Mbs 10 8
10 Mbs – 99 Mbs 16 0
9 Mbs or less 63 0
Current OARnet Connections 2012
11% 18%
71%
Prior to OARnet Implementation 2003 3%
14%
74%
9% 100 Gbps
Slide 8
September 10, 2013
Last Mile
Connection
by Service
Providers
ACCESS, 1%
CWRU, 1%
Cincinnati Bell, 1%
ZAYO, 2%
CenturyLINK, 2%
First Energy, 2%
AEP 4%
CERF 4%
BuckeyeTelesys 9%
AT&T 41%
NWOCA, 1%
OneCommunity, 2%
OSU, 1%
TCCSA, 1%
Time Warner Cable 22%
TW Telecom, 3%
Last Mile Connection by Service Providers
ACCESS CWRU Cincinnati Bell ZAYO
CenturyLINK First Energy AEP CERF
BuckeyeTelesys ATT NWOCA OneCommunity
OSU TCCSA Time Warner Cable TW Telecom
Slide 9
September 10, 2013
Ohio E-Rate Support • Federal E-Rate program available to:
– Eligible K-12 schools
– Public libraries
• Provides discounts on:
– Telecommunication services
– Internet access
– Internal connections hardware
– Maintenance costs
• Ohio Department of Education provides planning, support
and information to program applicants and recipients
FY2012/July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013
Total funding received to date - $74M
FY2013/ July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014
Total funding requested - $123M
Priority 1 Requests - $85.8 mil
Priority 2 Requests - $37.3 mil
Slide 10
September 10, 2013
Status of K-12 Building Connectivity in Ohio
• 85% of the school buildings are
at, or exceed
newly recommended capacity
of 100Mbs per building
• Based on the most recent data,
546 buildings fall into the
restricted and severely
restricted categories
• 113 buildings fall into the most
severe category of less than
10mbs per building.
Slide 11
September 10, 2013
K-12 Building Connections, by Type
10%
2% 1%
13%
15%
31%
28% T1s/ Cable Modems/DSL
DS3 ( 45Mb)
OC3 (155 Mb)
10 Mb Ethernet
100 Mb Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Other Fiber
Slide 1
September 10, 2013 Slide 1
North Carolina
Research and Education Network
Slide 2
September 10, 2013
Who We Serve… • 17 UNC System Institutions
• 26 of 37 independent colleges
and universities
• 58 Community Colleges
• 115 Local Education Agencies
• (All School Districts)
• 45 Charter Schools
• Healthcare
– 30 Hospitals (Non Profit)
– 70 County Health Agencies and Free clinics
• RTI, NISS, NHC, Burroughs Welcome Fund,
Bio Tech Center, other research institutions
Slide 3
September 10, 2013
Map of Build
Slide 4
September 10, 2013
K-12 Connections “To The Building”
Category Number
Districts 115 (all connected to NCREN)
District Connectivity All fiber based
All Scalable to 1G
District Connectivity 54 with direct fiber
Schools 2400
Schools with fiber 2270
School WAN Premise routing gear in place 10 M/100 M routing to
each fiber based school
School WAN MCNC consulting engineering practice has engaged
each district
Public Charters 45 of 120 connected
Public Charters Premise routing gear in place for 10M/100M
Slide 5
September 10, 2013
K-12 Connections “To The Building”
Category Quantity
Total schools 2331
Schools with 1 WAP per classroom (high) 515
Schools with 1 WAP per 2 classrooms (int.) 928
Schools with 1 WAP per 3 classrooms (low) 818
Schools with 1 to 1 student/device ratio 371 (all in high density
Slide 6
September 10, 2013
Sample Districts – Bandwidth Utilization
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Avera
ge D
aily 9
5th
Perc
enti
le
Uti
lizati
on (
Mbps)
Avery County Schools
Average Annual Growth: 108%
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Avera
ge D
aily 9
5th
Perc
enti
le
Uti
lizati
on (
Mbps)
Cumberland County Schools
Average Annual Growth: 145%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Avera
ge D
aily 9
5th
Perc
enti
le
Uti
lizati
on (
Mbps)
Halifax County Schools
Average Annual Growth: 40%
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Avera
ge D
aily 9
5th
Perc
enti
le
Uti
lizati
on (
Mbps)
Mooresville Graded
Average Annual Growth: 56%
Slide 7
September 10, 2013
Financial Comparison – SCI vs. Before
Category 2006-2007 May 2013
Total Bandwidth
Consumption K-12
7G 45.45G 650% increase
Enrollment 1,390,168 1,474,434
Consumption per
Institution (40
charters and 115
LEAs)
28 M/month 253 M/Month
36K per student daily
Total WAN and
Internet Cost
$13,000,000 $14,000,000 7% decrease
Cost per MG $155 $16.50 for LEA
$54 for Charter
Added Services
Firewall and Filtering
Not addressed in an
aggregated fashion in
2006
$1.37 per student Couldn’t track how
much NC LEAs were
spending in 2006-07
Numbers are kept by E-rate Division of DPI
Slide 8
September 10, 2013
MOREnet Connects Missouri
Slide 9
September 10, 2013
• Of the total CAIs in Missouri, MOREnet connects:
– 86% of Missouri’s 520 public K-12 school districts
– 90% of Missouri’s 146 public libraries
– 93% of Missouri’s 14 public 4-year higher education institutions
– 48% of Missouri’s 25 public 2-year higher education institutions
– 43% of Missouri’s 61 independent higher education institutions
– 3% of Missouri’s 540 private/parochial schools (a new market for us)
Missouri CAIs and MOREnet
Slide 10
September 10, 2013
• Since losing ~$14M in state funding in FY11,
MOREnet has retained nearly 90% of our
connected K-12 members
• From FY12 to FY13, public K-12 member
bandwidth grew a whopping 67%
• In the last 24 months alone 73% of our K-12
sites upgraded their bandwidth
MOREnet’s R&E Value Proposition for K-12 Connectivity
(cont’d)
Slide 11
September 10, 2013
• Members enjoy centralized circuit bidding,
procurement, monitoring, network expertise and
router management services when purchasing
connectivity from MOREnet
• Members benefit from our consortium E-rate
filing and support
• Consortium members leverage reduced costs,
technical expertise, centralized services,
increased buying power and economies of scale
MOREnet’s R&E Value Proposition for K-12 Connectivity
Slide 12
September 10, 2013
Benefits of Demand Aggregation in Missouri
T1 (1.5Mb) 3 Mb 5 Mb 10 Mb 20 Mb 100 MbAverage Pricedecrease for all
bandwidths
FY14 -1.59% -2.21% -2.88% -3.75% -5.00% -8.71% -5.32%
FY13 -4.17% -5.56% -7.14% -9.09% -11.76% -16.54% -10.92%
FY12 -4.00% -5.26% -6.67% -8.33% -10.53% -14.50% -18.05%
FY11 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% -2.74%
-45.00%
-40.00%
-35.00%
-30.00%
-25.00%
-20.00%
-15.00%
-10.00%
-5.00%
0.00%
Price Reduction by Bandwidth
Slide 13
September 10, 2013
Missouri Public K-12s Below SETDA’s Recommended
Bandwidth
Slide 14
September 10, 2013
Average Kbps Per Missouri Student
0-1,000
Students
1,001-5,000
Students
5,001-10,000
Students
> 10,000
Students
# of K12 Districts 306 122 17 17
Total Students 119,329 285,183 106,798 282,358
Avg Kbps / Student 30.5 25.3 35.4 24.8
Slide 15
September 10, 2013
E-Rate Eligible Circuits
100
Mbps or
greater
1 Gbps
or
greater
Ethernet *
K12 Districts 52 1 322
Libraries 2 0 102
* Some proportion of Ethernet connectivity is not fiber. Statistics not readily available.
Slide 1
September 10, 2013
Merit Network
Michigan Research and Education Network
Slide 2
September 10, 2013
Merit Fiber
Backbone - Then
Slide 3
September 10, 2013
Merit Fiber Backbone - Now
Slide 4
September 10, 2013
Merit Connects Michigan CAIs
Merit Connects:
• 100% of Public Higher-Ed Institutions
• 78% of Community Colleges
• 31% Private Colleges
• 60% K-12 Intermediate School Districts
• 42% Library Cooperatives
• 10% Healthcare Sites
• 3% State and Local Government
• 9% Other Non-Profits
Slide 5
September 10, 2013
Investing in Fiber Optics
Merit has realized operational cost savings as a result of the
fiber-optic infrastructure constructed with BTOP funds. Merit has
been able to pass those savings on to our Members in the form
of lower bandwidth rates.
Bandwidth Rates Before and After BTOP Funding
Bandwidth
Level
Bandwidth
Rate Prior to
BTOP (2009)
Bandwidth
Rate Today
(2013)
Percentage
of Decrease
Savings
6 Mbps $7,089 $2,160 69.5% $4,929
24 Mbps $27,401 $8,640 68.5% $18,761
100 Mbps $78,104 $36,000 53.9% $42,104
250 Mbps $142,997 $90,000 37.0% $52,997
500 Mbps $208,472 $180,000 13.6% $28,472
700 Mbps $313,950 $252,000 19.7% $61,950
1 Gbps $393,300 $360,000 8.47% $33,300
Slide 6
September 10, 2013
Fiber Optics to Schools and Libraries
Case Study #1
Rural School District– Prior to REACH-3MC, school district had a fixed capacity connection to their
local Intermediate School District, which was not able to be upgraded at a price that was sustainable
for the schools. School district was able to take advantage of the REACH-3MC backbone
infrastructure and fiber-optic technologies to establish a fiber connection to the network at 1 Gbps,
providing them the ability to subscribe at 150 Mbps. School district is planning to move more services
to the cloud and has introduced a laptop & tablet program for students. Both of these initiatives would
not have been possible without the BTOP project and by their previous connectivity options.
BTOP Success: This school is in a rural area and without the fiber-optic infrastructure their school
system would not have access to high-speed connectivity at an affordable price. Furthermore, the
infrastructure and connectivity has opened up opportunities for them to provide improved learning and
content to their students.
E-Rate Success: Increased capacity to school building to 1 Gbps and leverage e-rate funding to
support the increased service level based on a fixed cost of $93,897 annually for 3yrs. In the 4 th year,
the fixed annual cost drops to $3,750 saving the e-rate program $90,147 annually. Additionally,
because of Merit’s BTOP infrastructure available in the area the school system was able to put on the
ballot a millage that was approved by the citizens to help bring 21st century network to their school
system.
Slide 7
September 10, 2013
Fiber Optics to Schools and Libraries
Case Study #2
Library Cooperative– Prior to REACH-3MC, Co-op had 2 libraries connected via fiber, and 20
libraries connected via 1 or 2 leased T1 circuits. Merit was able to connect 14 libraries via 1
Gbps fiber. This capacity upgrade has begun to bring more interactive content opportunities to
these libraries located in rural parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
BTOP Success: The libraries are located in rural areas of the Upper Peninsula, with no cost-
effective and scalable connectivity options beyond leased T1 circuits. The BTOP-funded fiber-
optic infrastructure enables them to share more services over the network and bring more
interactive/video content into the libraries. The libraries also have the ability to source
interactive content to other locations.
E-Rate Success: Increased capacity to each library from 1.5 Mbps or 3.0M bps to 1 Gbps at
an ongoing fixed cost for each location. The cost per location for a 1 Gbps connection is:
$3,150 annually, plus a share of the aggregated Internet bandwidth.
The key success here is the ability to provide high-speed connectivity to these rural libraries
as part of Merit Network’s On-Net service.
Slide 8
September 10, 2013
Making the Case:
Fiber Optics for Schools and Libraries
Description
Current
Capacity
Level
Current OpEx
Annual
Recurring
E-Rate Circuit
Costs
CapEx
Cost to
Build
Fiber
New
Capacity
Level
New OpEx
Annual On-going
Cost to E-Rate
Program
On-going
Savings to
E-Rate
Program Notes/Comments Network Usage
with Fiber
Northern
Michigan Rural
K-12 School 3.0 Mbps $11,700 $25,084 1 Gbps $3,000 ($8,700)
When the school
needs more capacity
the current cost
would increase by
$5,700/T1
Pent-up demand
went from 3.0 Mbps
to 60 Mbps
Northern
Michigan Rural
Library 3.0 Mbps $12,000 $5,538 1 Gbps $2,250 ($9,750)
Same as above, this
site T1 cost is also
$5,700.
Pent-up demand
went from 3.0 Mbps
to 20 Mbps
Upper
Peninsula
Michigan
Library
3.0 Mbps $4,800 $12,481 1 Gbps $1,950 ($2,850)
Same as first
example above,
however, the cost of
a T1 $2,400.
Pent-up demand
went from 3.0 Mbps
to 10 Mbps and
growing
Upper
Peninsula
Michigan K-12
School
1.5 Mbps $5,970 $15,077 1 Gbps $1,950 ($4,020)
Same as first
example above,
however, the cost of
a T1 $3,600
Pent-up demand
went from 1.5 Mbps
to 10 Mbps to 20
Mbps and school
hasn't started yet.
Totals $34,470 $58,180 ($25,320) Total Annual Savings
to E-Rate Program
2442 NW Market Street #68
Seattle, Washington 98107 www.thequilt.net
September 10, 2013 The Quilt and Its Members
Who is The Quilt? The Quilt is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation that represents over 30 of our country's most advanced state research and education networks (RENs). The Quilt is a member-funded organization which receives significant volunteer contributions from its participants to support our initiatives. As a network of networks, The Quilt is a trusted forum where our members come together to exchange ideas, share best practices, leverage expertise and speak with a single voice on issues of common interest. With similar missions, these organizations collaborate at a national level to collectively advance networking in support of the research and education goals of the institutions each serve.
Most of the state network members of the Quilt began service by providing high-capacity data services to higher education. Over time, and with the help of the BTOP program, many of our networks have expanded to provide broadband services to schools, libraries, state and local government agencies, non-profit organizations, health care, and private industry engaged in research and educational partnerships. About ½ of our members participate in the E-rate program, either as consortium filers (4 organizations) filing on behalf of a number of their member institutions, or as an Internet access service provider (10 organizations).
While all our members are non-profits, they are funded, governed and structured differently. These fundamental aspects of the organizations reflect the diverse and complex environments of the communities and states in which they operate.
34% of Quilt members are 501c3 non-profit corporations; 40% of Quilt members are university-based organizations; 26% of Quilt members are either a division of the State Board of Regents, State Dept. of Higher
Education or another State Government agency.
September 10, 2013 The Quilt and Its Members Contact: Jen Leasure, President, The Quilt at [email protected]
R&E Networks Are Bridging the Gap to Schools, Libraries and Other Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs)
Research and education networks (RENs) have several core competencies that allow them to provide high-value services to schools and libraries, such as:
Per their missions, research and education networks (RENs) are instrumental in providing access to advanced networking services to extended communities that would otherwise not have access to such services, including higher education institutions, K-12 schools, libraries, state and local government agencies, health care, and other non-profit organizations.
Most R&E Networks own and control their own middle-mile and some last mile network infrastructure. This allows R&E Networks to respond to the unique requirements of community anchor institutions (CAIs) and support the sustained increases in bandwidth utilization by these institutions over time.
As consortium purchasers, R&E Networks have a successful history of forming lasting public/private partnerships with commercial telecommunications carriers and other industry partners. These partnerships have resulted in the ability for schools, libraries and other CAIs to cost-effectively access R&E Networks’ shared infrastructure while increasing revenue and lowering administrative costs for these commercial partners. (This benefit was specifically recognized in the National Broadband Plan, p. 154). The positives of consortium purchases extend into technical support where consortium buyers often get higher priority in technical support. Consortium buyers often get access to flexibly priced last mile circuits that allow connectors to grow into higher bandwidth commitments in an economical and efficient fashion.
R&E Networks have been designed to meet the needs of some of the most demanding Internet users in
the country: scientists, academics and researchers in our nation‘s leading academic institutions. These networks are engineered to support high-quality services that are consistent regardless of the number of users on the network. The networks must readily adapt to new experiments or projects that place new demands on the network. The network speed, quality, flexibility and support offered by R&E Networks also provide schools and libraries with exceptional service that adapts easily to specific demands of these users.
Many of these R&E Networks received BTOP grant funding to build out middle mile infrastructure, upgrade broadband connections and add new connections to community anchor institutions in their states. These projects resulted in lower costs and increased capacity to K-12 schools and libraries and other community anchor institutions that previously did not have such broadband access at affordable prices.
8 Quilt Member BTOP CCI Recipients:
Almost 13,000 new, upgraded or leased fiber miles Over 4,000 new and upgraded community anchor institutions connections
3 Quilt Member BTOP CCI Sub-recipients Over 5,200 new, upgraded or leased fiber miles
Over 700 new and upgraded community anchor institutions connections
