Anne Arundel County Public Schools will have one of the fastest data networks in the nation thanks to a fiber-optic network project that will soon be completed.
“Technology is essential in order for our students to compete,” County Executive Steve Schuh said. “We provided $3.4 million in the budget that will mean every school in Anne Arundel County has the absolute best internet access tools for students to succeed.”
The FY 2018 budget provided capital funding to wire the remaining 52 schools to the Anne Arundel County Fiber Network and provides 10-gigabit connections critical to transferring large data, accommodating multiple devices and accessing the Internet to all schools.
The schools core network ring throughout the county will run at 1.3 Terabits per second by utilizing Thirteen 100 Gigabit optical channels on a DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) fiber optic network. The 13 channels are used exclusively by the school system. Each school would have broadband capacity 400 times the average home cable modem.
“Technology is being infused into the educational process more and more every day, and it is critical that we are doing everything we can to meet the needs of our students and staff,” Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent George Arlotto said. “We are proud to have a tool that rivals any jurisdiction in the nation when it comes to the exchange of information, data and ideas.”
The project was made possible through the JumpStart Anne Arundel capital project financing program. Enacted in 2015, the capital plan embraces a 30-year bond financing option. This reform has allowed Anne Arundel County to expand its capital funding program and make critical school, public safety, road, and quality of life infrastructure improvements from Brooklyn Park to Pasadena to Annapolis to Odenton.
