New Jersey-based K-12 school system saves thousands per year as it doubles Internet bandwidth and achieves a 10x increase in private fiber connection speeds between multiple locations.
JERICHO, NY, APRIL 20, 2016 – Lightpath®, a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced its work with Ramsey School District in New Jersey in support of a wide range of bandwidth-intensive initiatives that demand the power and flexibility of a 100% fiber network. A fifteen year Lightpath customer, Ramsey school district was most recently able to double its Internet bandwidth while achieving a 10x increase in private fiber connection speeds between key locations and savings of thousands annually.
Ramsey School District comprises three elementary schools, the Smith Middle School and Ramsey High School. Ramsey took advantage of Lightpath’s popular managed Private Fiber Service to establish multiple 10G connections between key district locations, including the middle and high school, with 1G connections feeding each of the elementary schools. This configuration allows Ramsey to host all network equipment at the high school, simplifying ongoing management and support.
“Lightpath has a strong reputation, a great relationship with schools in the area and is known for really high uptime, which is huge,” said Ryan Kenny, director for Ramsey School Districts technology department. “Knowing that we have a partner that can help us do that in the most cost-effective way and with no disruption to learning, is a major advantage for the district, our staff and students. While a 1G Internet connection serves our needs today, we’ll likely have to double or triple that in just the next couple of years.”
Over time, tech-based programs rolled out by schools in the Ramsey district have required ongoing incremental bandwidth increases, made easy by the flexibility of the fiber network supporting them. The district has standardized on Google Apps for Education, which is hosted in the cloud and requires a strong, reliable bandwidth connection. It recently deployed more than 2,000 iPads to students and teachers in support of advanced learning initiatives. Ramsey also needed to support emerging needs, such as robust Wi-Fi access to support 1-to-1 and BYOD programs, as well as state requirements, including for online-based PARCC testing.
Lightpath serves schools in more than two-thirds (68%) of the 132 school districts located within the company’s New Jersey footprint. Ramsey School District most recently took advantage of a critical purchasing opportunity afforded by Lightpath’s participation in the New Jersey Middlesex Regional Education Services Commission (MRESC) purchasing cooperative, which aims to expand affordable access to high-bandwidth data services.
“When it comes to our work with schools, Lightpath’s philosophy is ‘if they can dream it, we can support it,’” said Joe Flynn, senior vice president of sales for Lightpath. “Every district is different, bringing distinct needs, ambitions and a vision for how to advance learning in their schools. We are proud of the critical work that we do in this sector and look forward to helping more schools like Ramsey continue to deliver the very best education experiences for students.”
For more information, visit www.golightpath.com.
About Lightpath
Lightpath, a division of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC, news, filings), is an industry leader in providing advanced Ethernet-based data, Internet, voice, video transport solutions and managed services to businesses across the New York metropolitan area. The Lightpath network is a highly reliable, resilient, and scalable fiber-to-the-business-premises network extending more than 5,800 route miles connecting more than 7,000 fiber-lit locations. Exclusively focused on meeting customer needs in the world’s largest business market for more than 20 years, Lightpath has been continually recognized for its high level of customer service. This includes a commendation by the New York State Public Service Commission for the last 17 consecutive years for excellence in service and quality. Lightpath has received many industry awards for innovation and leadership, including being named North American Regional Service Provider of the Year by MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum). For more information, visit www.golightpath.com.
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