Broadband Access for Teaching, Learning and School Operations | 2014-2015 School Year Target | 2020-2021 School Year Target |
---|---|---|
An external Internet connection to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) | At least 100 kbps per student | At least 1 Mbps per student |
Internal Wide Area Network (WAN) connections from the district to each school and among schools within the district | At least 1 Mbps student | At least 10 Mbps per student |
The FCC-adopted bandwidth goals provide a great foundation on which to start your planning. However, in order to more accurately dimension your network bandwidth there’s number of considerations to keep in mind:
Based on the FCC goals and common practice in the field, we see the following bandwidth profiles based on technology use.
Based on how many users and how many devices you have today, and how how those numbers may change over the next 5 years, your bandwidth growth rate will vary. If you have moderate technology use today but plan to implement a 1:1 program, your bandwidth needs will grow much faster than a district who is already largely media-rich. Your upgrade plan should include an estimate of your bandwidth needs for three to five years, as well as options for increasing bandwidth within that timeframe. School districts will need to plan for Internet bandwidth growth at 50% to 100% every year.