GLRBI July 2011 Clipbook by Noah Garrett

MCNC set to kick off secound round of state network expansion :: Editor's...

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Posted Jul. 28, 2011 at 7:15 a.m.

MCNC's broadband plan Image 1 of 4 · Next Image… By WRAL Tech Wire RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — MCNC will host a Statewide Virtual Groundbreaking Ceremony on Aug. 12 to celebrate the start of construction on the second phase of the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI). The groundbreaking will take place between 10 and 11:30 a.m. from four locations in North Carolina. Those sites include Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Elizabeth City State University, UNC Pembroke, and the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. Each will participate via high-definition video over the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). MCNC President and CEO Joe Freddoso said he is excited to begin the second phase of building North Carolina’s highway to the future. “The second round of the BTOP (Broadband Technology Opportunities Program) project will greatly expand the ability of NCREN to meet the present and future broadband needs of North Carolina’s K-12 schools, the University of North Carolina System, our wonderful independent colleges and universities, North Carolina’s community colleges, and other community anchor institutions (libraries, non-profit hospitals),” he said. “In addition, I am particularly proud that we have been able to work closely with telephone companies, cable companies, electrical co-ops, and others to make certain that the fiber from the GLRBI will be additive to their efforts to reach more rural citizens with affordable broadband service,” Freddoso added. MCNC, a private non-profit organization, secured two grants through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BTOP last year to fund this statewide project. Next month’s groundbreaking celebrates the start of the $104 million second phase of the GLRBI that includes construction of 1,200 miles of broadband infrastructure through northeastern, north-central, northwestern, central, and south-central North Carolina. BTOP funds make up $75.75 million of the funding for Round 2, and MCNC raised $28.25 million privately, including $24 million from Golden LEAF Foundation. The Round 2 project is three-times the size of MCNC’s BTOP Round 1 project. The Round 1 build encompasses construction of 412 miles of new high-speed “middle-mile” broadband infrastructure in 37 counties. Currently, more than 340 miles of conduit and approximately 150 miles of fiber have been installed in southeastern and western North Carolina.

7/28/2011 8:34 AM

MCNC set to kick off secound round of state network expansion :: Editor's...

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According to Freddoso, MCNC is moving toward completion of the Round 1 build with more than 85 percent complete. He added that MCNC plans to have all fiber for Round 1 in service by January 2012 – more than a year ahead of the federal deadline. The total investment for both Round 1 and Round 2 of $144 million represents one of the largest investments in broadband infrastructure in North Carolina history. The majority of the project funds have been spent with private-sector engineering, construction, materials, and technology companies assisting with the build. No direct funding from the State of North Carolina was required. Overall, the GLRBI includes more than 2,000 miles of new and/or acquired fiber to be outfitted through 69 counties in North Carolina. And, MCNC estimates the expansion of NCREN will create or save 2,500 jobs in the state. All construction on both rounds is to be complete by 2013. For more information regarding all of MCNC’s BTOP activities, visit MCNC’s BTOP Central Webspace online. Get the latest news alerts: Follow WRAL Tech Wire at Twitter.

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7/28/2011 8:34 AM

Stepping Up to High-Speed Broadband -- THE Journal

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Networking | Spotlight

Stepping Up to High-Speed Broadband Statewide system allows North Carolina charter school to rev up its campus connectivity By Bridget McCrea 07/28/11

Last year, Celest O'Brien was faced with an IT dilemma. She knew that the student body was growing at Monroe, NC-based Union Academy and that an increasing number of teachers, staff, and students needed reliable connectivity while on campus. As IT director for the charter school, O'Brien also knew that the institution's current setup wasn't going to cut it. "Eight years ago we had 450 students and Internet access through our local phone company," recalled O'Brien. "We had 40 computers, and plenty of Internet access to go around." The number of students and computers on Union Academy's campus--and in its distance-learning program--has grown significantly since then. Today, the school has over 1,200 students and 140 staff members using 600 computers on campus. To accommodate that growth, Union Academy struck a deal a few years ago with Time Warner Cable, which hooked the school up with business-class broadband service. Unfortunately, many Monroe residents were using the same line and slowing the broadband down for students, both on and off campus. "We have a pretty [popular] distance learning program here," O'Brien said, "and our students couldn't even get their work done because the connection was so poor." Back at the drawing board, O'Brien learned about the North Carolina School Connectivity Initiative (SCI), which would provide all of the state's K-12 public schools with high-speed connectivity via the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). Schools began connecting to the network in 2009. Charter schools weren't originally included in the initiative, according to O'Brien, but were later considered for the program (once the cap was raised for the number of schools that could hook into the network).

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Joe Freddoso, president and CEO at MCNC, a non-profit organization that provides the networking technology, systems, and support for the statewide program, said once the state raised the cap on how many schools would be allowed to use the network, individual charter schools were addressed on a case-by-case basis. Budgetary issues--such as, how much could the school afford to pay for connectivity, outside of the state's reimbursement level--were discussed, and in many cases, NCREN made more sense. Currently, 19 North Carolina charter schools are receiving high-speed connectivity and services through the NCREN. Those schools can either sign up for a complete, turnkey connection or continue being responsible for part of the connection arrangements themselves. Union Academy selected the first option, based on the poor quality of its existing Internet service. "We were one of the first charter schools to jump on the opportunity," stated O'Brien. The school tapped into the statewide network last summer, and has been using it with positive results ever since. "It fixed our Internet problem and cleared up the major bottlenecks that we were dealing with," said O'Brien. "Without it, we wouldn't be able to offer our students the resources they need to excel, and to be challenged academically." O'Brien said the system has allowed teachers to integrate technology into their lesson plans in new ways, and without having to worry about graphics-laden pages taking hours to download. The school's distance learning program has grown as a result of the new system, with roughly 25 percent of all high school students participating in online education. "Most of our high school graduates have taken at least one distance learning class--something that wouldn't be possible with our previous bandwidth," said O'Brien. "They've been able to work above and beyond state standards using videoconferencing equipment and other tools that weren't previously within our grasp." O'Brien said implementing wireless at the school's elementary campus is the next task on her IT agenda. Also on her mind these days is a statewide cloud computing initiative that will find schools pooling their resources for hosted software applications. "They're supposed to be offering schools a cheaper alternative for Microsoft products, and other applications," remarked O'Brien, who sees the opportunity to place Union Academy's firewall in the cloud, and/or utilize the consortium's content filtering services, as particularly valuable propositions. "We're looking pretty carefully at this development, and how it can benefit our school and our students."

About the Author Bridget McCrea is a business and technology writer in Clearwater, FL. She can be reached at bridgetmc@earthlink.net. Most Popular Articles

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7/28/2011 11:12 PM

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REVAMPING NEIGHBORHOODS Do you think other streets in New Bern would benefit from the Adopt-A-Block program?

It would have been good to have that redundancy a week ago when a squirrel bit through the fiber optics near the Trent River and knocked out service to the county schools and city fire department for four days, Trail said.

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According to a letter from MCNC to the city manager, the company will provide services to New Bern at reduced rates for service it delivers out Craven Community College.

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It should take about four to six weeks before the city has the new fiber optics and about 18 months for the project to be completed statewide, Trail said.

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Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at efitzgerald@freedomenc.com

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City grants easement for fiber optics line | grants, line, optics - Sun Journal

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7/21/2011

City tax collections come up short | tax, taxes, new - Sun Journal

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July 24, 2011 9:01 PM

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tweets Eddie Fitzgerald

New Bern tax collections are more than a quarter million dollars low because of unpaid real and personal property taxes. Aldermen will consider Tuesday night approving the annual settlement of the 2010-11 tax levy. The board meets at 7 p.m. in City Hall. According to tax office records, New Bern is facing $281,002.92 in delinquent taxes. There is also $36,768.36 of unpaid taxes from the Municipal Service District. Donna McCoy, tax collector, told aldermen in a memorandum that the tax office will continue trying to collect the delinquent taxes. The tax office has collected 97.65 percent of real and personal property taxes in New Bern and 81.64 percent of taxes due from the Municipal Service District, McCoy said. Total taxes collected in New Bern were $11.662 million; and $163,397.31 in the Municipal Service District, tax reports show. In other matters, aldermen will hold a second required public hearing on an $11,897 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant for the Police Department to purchase CopLogic, a software program that allows the public to fill out low-priority incident reports online. The new technology is designed to save law enforcement officers time and provide a more efficient way for the public to report crime. A resolution will be considered to approve a municipal agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation for inspections of a bridge located on Allen Drive.

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