Lenexa, KS (August 25, 2021) – The second-largest school district in Kansas has selected WANRack™, a nationwide provider of fiber-optic Wide-Area Networks (WANs), to modernize its broadband infrastructure. WANRack has already begun construction on a 52.4-mile fiber network for Olathe Public Schools, which has the largest IT network of any other entity in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The project will connect more than 75 district sites and bring network speeds of up to 100Gbps to the district’s 35,000 students and staff.
After a comprehensive RFP process that drew proposals from a wide variety of providers, Olathe Public Schools awarded all three contracts – for WAN, Internet Access and Voice over IP (VoIP) services – to WANRack. The new private fiber network is capable of delivering 100Gpbs, more than ten times the throughput of the network it replaces. Furthermore, the new WANRack network secures huge cost savings for the district, slashing monthly charges by more than 50% at current network bandwidth levels.
The cost savings over the current service provider will continue to accelerate as the district takes advantage of higher network speeds. In addition, the WANRack solution eliminates hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses that bandwidth increases with the current provider would have incurred.
“The WANRack network is incredibly faster and dramatically more cost-efficient than anything we have previously been able to achieve or even imagine,” said Matt Vrlenich, Chief Technology Officer of Olathe Public Schools. “I highly recommend that all districts look into upgrading to a WANRack network. I can’t speak highly enough about the company, its expertise, and the superiority of its offering.”
Olathe Public Schools is home to 36 elementary schools, ten middle schools and five high schools, plus data centers, athletic facilities, and additional learning centers distributed across the cities of Olathe, Overland Park and Lenexa. The district has seen 55 consecutive years of enrollment growth. The WANRack fiber network ensures a future-proof strategy that can stay ahead of future networking demands, allowing the district to increase bandwidth as necessary with little to no incremental expense.
“We are thrilled to expand our impact in the Midwest and boost the educational experience for the students of Olathe Public Schools,” said Rob Oyler, WANRack Founder and CEO. “This network is the last network Olathe Public Schools will ever need, and it literally lays the groundwork for WANRack to provide high-capacity Internet and VoIP services for any district in the greater Kansas City metro area.”
WANRack is currently operating in 23 states. The company’s robust fiber-optic networks traverse the nation, from Florida to Washington state, and Arizona to Connecticut. The WANRack executive management team has constructed and delivered more than 200 fiber-optic WANs since 2005.
About WANRack
WANRack provides high-bandwidth, fiber-based communications networks and related services to customers throughout the continental United States. Service offerings include E-Rate-compliant lit fiber, dark fiber, and special construction solutions. Headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, the company provides point to point fiber networks, which eliminate countless points of failure found in traditional legacy networks. To learn more about WANRack, visit www.wanrack.com.
For more information, call Macie Heller at (913) 601-5297, or email macie.heller@wanrack.com.
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