Trillion Unwires 31 Minnesota Districts
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4/2/2007—Trillion has completed construction of a high-speed wireless network serving 31 school districts in Southwestern Minnesota for the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperatives (SW/WC). The deployment impacts more than 17,000 students, educators and administrators in Minnesota.
SW/WC is a public agency created by the Minnesota legislature in 1976 to provide services to schools--both public and private--and to develop programs for schools, non-profit organization and various government entities.
"The Service Cooperatives is excited to offer reliable connectivity to cutting edge Web-based educational resources to its member districts," said Josh Sumption, manager of information technology for the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperatives, in a prepared statement. "This Trillion network enables member schools to further develop their curriculum and tailor specific programs to meet student needs and No Child Left Behind requirements. It is anticipated that these resources will enable our students to be more competitive as they apply to universities."
Trillion's high-speed network covers nearly 7,000 square miles. Construction began in September 2006. Now, with construction completed, Trillion said that the IT Department at SW/WC is "assessing new technologies and educational applications that require a high-speed network to operate effectively. In addition to educational advancements the new network enables SW/WC to realize significant time and money savings through the use of centralized storage and utilization of shared technologies."
Trillion said SW/WC can also now offer Internet2-related services to member schools. Internet2 is a consortium of more than 200 universities, as well as commercial companies, developing network technologies and applications for education and for high-speed data transfer.
Trillion will continue to maintain the new network over the course of its five-year contract with SW/WC, primarily through its network operations center in Texas.
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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at [email protected].
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at [email protected].