Article is from El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, 1/13/2010.
It’s pedal to the metal for students of Socorro Consolidated Schools, who now have a better, faster Internet connection.
Over the holiday break, Technology Director Vernon Smith completed installation of DS3 Internet technology, which
increased bandwidth from 3 megabits per second to 45 mbps. It will definitely be noticeable, said Smith. The students should have considerably better connectivity. Previously the school district used two blended T1 lines, which would be more than fast enough for the ordinary household or small business. Schools, however, have hundrcds of users on
thc same network sharing the same Internet connection. All six schools in the district are connected through the Central Office. Think of it like a bottleneck, or a funnel, said Smith. All that information comes in through one place. What DS3 does is broaden the funnel. In fact, DS3 is about the equivalent of having 28 T1 lines. Typically, DS3 lines are installed in large corporations and universities. New Mexico Tech has DS3. It was a challenge for Qwest to get it to us, said Smith. We ve been trying to get it installed since last June. First, Qwest had to run the necessary fiber optics to their building by the Socorro Post Office, and then run a conduit to the Torres campus in order to hook into the school district’s network. From there, a router takes the service the
thc same network sharing the same Internet connection. All six schools in the district are connected through the Central Office. Think of it like a bottleneck, or a funnel, said Smith. All that information comes in through one place. What DS3 does is broaden the funnel. In fact, DS3 is about the equivalent of having 28 T1 lines. Typically, DS3 lines are installed in large corporations and universities. New Mexico Tech has DS3. It was a challenge for Qwest to get it to us, said Smith. We ve been trying to get it installed since last June. First, Qwest had to run the necessary fiber optics to their building by the Socorro Post Office, and then run a conduit to the Torres campus in order to hook into the school district’s network. From there, a router takes the service therest of the way to the district’s Central Office on Franklin Street. Tech’s DS3 comes in on a different pipeline, said Smith. It’s not something the school district has access to. Smith has been working on increasing internet and network speeds for more than a year. Thanks to his efforts, the school district was awarded $1.15 million in federal funding for the D53 project from the Universal Service Administrative Company last June.
If you look on your phone bill under taxes, fees and surcharges for local and distance service, you ll see a little line that says Federal Universal Service Fund, said Smith. That’s where that money comes from. The funding, commonly
referred to as E-Rate funding, is awarded at two levels. All applicants can receive Priority One funding. Priority Two funding is apportioned based on level of poverty, as measured by participation in the free and reduced lunch
program. That’s why it s so important for parents to fill out the form for the lunch program, said Smith. The high school, where we need the most technology, is the one place where we have the least funding, because not enough parents fill out the form.
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