OCDE upgrades internet speeds, becomes nation’s first K-12 educational entity to jump to 100 gbps

Imagine expanding a bustling freeway from two lanes to 20. That’s essentially what just happened to OCDE’s internet highway, which just improved by the power of 10.

imageYes, that’s right, OCDE has established an impressive 100-gigabit connection, enabling faster internet for digital learning that will benefit more than half a million students and 20,000 teachers in Orange County.

Through a partnership with CENIC, the California K-12 High Speed Network and the California Department of Education, OCDE is now the nation’s first K-12 educational entity to acquire this robust connection speed.

“With this upgrade, Orange County schools will have a bandwidth that is 10 times greater than what had been in place, enabling educators to fully embrace media-rich educational content, including high-resolution videos and even streaming media to support activities such as virtual field trips,” said Carl Fong, OCDE’s executive director of Information Technology.

Prior to the jump, the school districts connecting to OCDE were running on 10 gigabit per second, circuits hitting an average of 70 to 80 percent of its capacity. While that proved to be an efficient connection for a while, the need for an upgrade became apparent when one school district’s circuit peaked at 93 percent of its capacity.

Fong said the process was designed to be seamless and he is thankful for his team’s dedication and the partnerships with CENIC and K12HSN.

“The K12HSN staff was critical, supplying the infrastructure, expertise and coordination to make this a reality,” said Fong.