Bringing Schools Up To Speed
StratusIQ is bringing schools up to speed by winning FOUR competitive bids for schools in Colorado to receive new fiber connections in 2020. Competitive bids include District 20 and Atlas Preparatory Academy Elementary School in Colorado Springs. By winning these bids StratusIQ is now connecting these locations to a faster and more reliable fiber Internet connection. We are proud to help Colorado schools stay connected and keep education running!
Internet communication has become critical for all schools. The need to connect home-bound students and staff to online learning tools and lesson plans have led to a steady rise in demand for bandwidth and security in a school’s network. Fiber connections that provide higher speed, better reliability, and more security have become the preference for schools and school districts in Colorado. StratusIQ won the opportunity to provide fiber internet and WAN services to District 49 in 2018 and currently no services over 7 additional school entities including District 20.
How Does the Program Work
This necessity for higher quality Internet services and telecommunication can be demanding on a school’s already tight budget. To help combat this, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (www.fcc.gov) offers the E-Rate program to schools and libraries across the nation. The program provides discounts for telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connections to eligible schools. Funding for the E-Rate program comes from the Universal Service Fund (fcc.gov/general/universal-service-fund), administered by the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) (www.usac.org).
Schools and school districts release competitive bid documents to eligible providers. Most importantly, much of the information requested is designed to be useful and available to potential vendors. Through a fair and competitive bidding process, the school can choose the best provider for their needs. There are many factors that may decide a winner including price, infrastructure, experience, qualifications, locality of provider, and environmental objectives.
StratusIQ has over 10 years of experience with the USAC E-Rate program. Every year we participate in the bidding process. Above all, we want to make sure students/educators can access a secure, independent network with the fastest speeds available. If your school (Public or Private) is interested in connecting to our fiber network that is designed for 99.9% reliability we would be more than happy to see how we can help!
