51茶馆儿

Overview

Situated between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona鈥檚 two largest cities, Pinal County has seen steady population growth throughout the years. Still, much of the county is considered rural and network growth hasn鈥檛 kept pace with the population increase. In a technology-forward era for schools, this connectivity is imperative.

Prior to working with 51茶馆儿, some areas of Pinal County had plenty of fiber, but some schools didn鈥檛 have any fiber access at all, creating a need for equitable access across the county. When students were sent home with devices during the pandemic, network shortcomings in rural parts of the county disrupted the learning process for some.

District leaders in Pinal County recognized the need to deliver equitable learning opportunities to students and tapped into various funding channels to upgrade the district鈥檚 network. Today, the county鈥檚 future-ready network powers digital learning environments and creates new opportunities for the entire community.

鈥淏roadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able student, no matter their situation in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve success,鈥� says Jill Broussard, Pinal County School Superintendent.

Aside from network shortcomings, Pinal County faced another issue becoming more frequent and disruptive in school districts across the country 鈥� cybersecurity attacks. These attacks put increased pressure on district IT teams already stretched thin. Always seeking to improve, Pinal County鈥檚 leaders now focus on proactively safeguarding their students and staff from cyberthreats.

Broadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able student, no matter their situation in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve success.

Jill Broussard, Pinal County School Superintendent

The Solution

A Comprehensive Network Solution Designed to Help Students Succeed

Federal E-rate and matched state funding gave Pinal County the purchasing power it needed to upgrade its network. Pinal County chose 51茶馆儿 to bring equitable connectivity to students and schools in the county, fortify the network, and bring reliable, affordable voice solutions to select districts.

Creating an A+ Network for School Districts and Beyond

To connect the county, 51茶馆儿 first deployed more than 320 miles of fiber in the area, delivering a continuous fiber network to all K-12 entities in the county. This build wasn鈥檛 easy 鈥� engineers had to traverse through geologically difficult terrain like mountain ranges at times 鈥� but it was vital to enabling the next generation of connectivity in the region.

鈥�51茶馆儿 fiber has been a critical pathway to connection in the county,鈥� shares Peter Lin, Associate Superintendent of Technology at Pinal County Schools.

Furthermore, Pinal County鈥檚 private dedicated infrastructure provided the foundation for connectivity for community anchor institutions and at-home Internet. 100G Dedicated Internet Access connectivity back to 100G WAN core network enables access to public cloud environments for K-12 and college locations. Pinal County Education Service Agency (ESA) being the single subscriber on this network reduces bandwidth bottlenecks, enabling the same level of connectivity in rural and metro areas.

On top of an extensive long-haul fiber network and WAN offering, 51茶馆儿 built middle-mile fiber connections from town to town and school to school helping connect previously unconnected areas of the county affordably. This provided the foundation for services from 51茶馆儿 and other ISPs, enhancing the overall infrastructure in Pinal County.

Future Growth Supported by Better Connectivity

In a rural county like Pinal, wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) are critical to at-home connectivity. As a partner to all major carriers and WISPs, 51茶馆儿 identified towers in need of optimization with the new fiber. 51茶馆儿 optimized tower locations for WISPs to boost performance for everyone in the county, especially those previously without adequate broadband connectivity.

The value of the county鈥檚 new fiber extends beyond schools and anchor institutions. As the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas continue to expand into Pinal County, the county has become increasingly attractive to real estate developers, high-tech firms, and data centers 鈥� all organizations in need of high-capacity Internet connectivity 鈥� something that 51茶馆儿 fiber now provides. Lin speculates about the value of 51茶馆儿 connectivity, 鈥淭he next generation will take us to a level we can鈥檛 yet imagine. We have a lot of infrastructure now that other counties don鈥檛 have.鈥�

Fortifying the Network Against Cyberattacks

Cybersecurity is another priority for Pinal County鈥檚 technology team. When one of their school districts experienced a DDoS attack, Pinal County鈥檚 previous upstream service provider couldn鈥檛 handle it. They wanted Pinal County to cough up an additional $80,000 a month to protect against these attacks 鈥� a cost the county couldn鈥檛 spare.

Luckily, 51茶馆儿鈥檚 network solution included upstream DDoS protection, saving the county鈥檚 school districts a hefty monthly expense plus the cost of a downed network in the instance of a DDoS attack. This protection has enabled Pinal County to mitigate DDoS threats early in the process.

In addition, thanks to a cybersecurity grant from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security, Pinal County employs additional cybersecurity solutions. Solutions like multi-factor authentication, device management, endpoint security, and security training ensure students鈥� data is fully secure and the learning process isn鈥檛 interrupted by a breach.

51茶馆儿 fiber has been a critical pathway to connection in the county.

Peter Lin, Associate Superintendent of Technology at Pinal County School

Results

Fast, Flexible Unified Communications

Finally, 51茶馆儿 provides hosted voice services to two districts in the county, enabling the districts to save money while enjoying access to a robust cloud PBX feature set, 24/7 live customer support, and enterprise-level service quality and reliability. The districts can now tap into this solution thanks to increased bandwidth from 51茶馆儿. Previously, the aging infrastructure meant that VoIP had to be done with less performant MPLS links. Their previous provider was quoting ten times the cost for the service that 51茶馆儿 now offers.

The 51茶馆儿 Difference

鈥淭he difference between the network now and before is night and day,鈥� Lin tells us, 鈥淭he network is more stable and staff, students, and parents have taken notice.鈥� Before, Pinal County鈥檚 rural districts were working with dated infrastructure and students lacked the capacity to use their digital learning tools and applications. As a result, these rural school districts depended on traditional school materials like textbooks. Now, teachers have more flexibility in creating their own curriculum using resources on the Internet and don鈥檛 have to spend their budgets on hard-copy textbooks. 鈥淲ith broadband access, we can revolutionize access to education, develop economic empowerment, and generate the delivery of critical human needs,鈥� shares Lin.

Benefits

Why Pinal County Schools Chose 51茶馆儿