Procurement Gap
The typical school pays $40 per megabit for bandwidth -- four times the $10 per megabit paid by best practice districts. Similarly, the prices paid by districts for network equipment can vary by as much as 100%. This is despite the fact that the majority of the funding for these purchases is provided by E-Rate and that collectively schools are one of the world's largest purchasers of Internet connectivity and equipment.
The problem is that purchasing is conducted by 14,000+ independent school districts. These districts rarely have the information or scale to obtain best practice pricing. In order to drive down the cost of Internet infrastructure for schools, we must help schools understand the lowest prices being paid by schools and aggregate purchasing across school districts.
We also need to help schools get access to high speed Internet connectivity. Many schools lie outside the reach of existing commercial high-speed fiber optic networks and don't have sufficient purchasing power to incent telecommunications companies to deploy networks in their towns and neighborhoods. By helping school districts form purchasing consortia, we can create the scale needed to attract commercial investment in new fiber deployments.
The problem is that purchasing is conducted by 14,000+ independent school districts. These districts rarely have the information or scale to obtain best practice pricing. In order to drive down the cost of Internet infrastructure for schools, we must help schools understand the lowest prices being paid by schools and aggregate purchasing across school districts.
We also need to help schools get access to high speed Internet connectivity. Many schools lie outside the reach of existing commercial high-speed fiber optic networks and don't have sufficient purchasing power to incent telecommunications companies to deploy networks in their towns and neighborhoods. By helping school districts form purchasing consortia, we can create the scale needed to attract commercial investment in new fiber deployments.
Our Solution: Reduce costs for schools
In order to ensure that schools pay the lowest prices possible for Internet connectivity and network equipment, EducationSuperHighway is creating a Pricing Transparency Database, a Pooled Purchasing Platform, and way to facilitate a Regional Fiber Consortia for schools.
By creating pricing transparency in the E-Rate program and aggregating purchasing across school districts, we can make sure that we improve the availability and cost effectiveness of 100 Mbps+ Internet access and infrastructure to America's schools. Check more on how we are Reducing Cost for Schools.
By creating pricing transparency in the E-Rate program and aggregating purchasing across school districts, we can make sure that we improve the availability and cost effectiveness of 100 Mbps+ Internet access and infrastructure to America's schools. Check more on how we are Reducing Cost for Schools.
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