Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission Uses High-capacity Ethernet Services to Support BYOD and Online Assessment Initiatives
PHILADELPHIA – December 8, 2015 – Comcast Business today announced that more than 75 K-12 New Jersey schools within the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission (MRESC) are now using a diverse portfolio of high-capacity Ethernet services for the 2015-2016 school year. In addition to supporting the surge in laptops, tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices being added to these networks each day, the Comcast Business Ethernet services will improve access to online assessment tools and Web-based educational resources to help improve learning and collaboration between K-12 schools across the Garden State.
Headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey, the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission (MRESC) is a state-chartered organization that cost-effectively procures various technology, transportation and professional development services for local K-12 school districts across Middlesex County. With the help of Dellicker Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in the areas of blended learning and the telecommunications purchasing process, the MRESC embarked on an expansive project to upgrade and future-proof the network infrastructure for 145 K-12 schools across New Jersey.
“The goal was to establish a more permanent solution that could meet the capacity demands caused by the increasing number of mobile devices being added to these school networks. This, combined with the surge in online assessment tools and Web-based educational resources that our students use every day, required us to reevaluate how we approached our technology infrastructure,” said Patrick Moran, business administrator and board secretary for the MRESC. “We assessed multiple vendors and ultimately selected Comcast Business for the wide breadth of cost-effective services it could offer to our constituents. We also knew that selecting a provider with such a large fiber network would be invaluable to us as we looked to connect schools from across the state to each other in the future.”
With this agreement, more than 75 schools are currently using a diverse mix of Comcast Business Ethernet services that range from 10 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps). Each school can select the amount of network capacity it needs based on individual infrastructure demands, which has become critical for K-12 schools such as the Gloucester Township School District, Evesham Township School District and Belvidere School District that depend on fast, reliable Internet access to support the demands of their rigorous educational curriculum. In addition to Ethernet Dedicated Internet services, many schools are opting to install Ethernet Network Services from Comcast Business to connect their various elementary, middle and high schools to each other. This has improved collaboration and efficiency by allowing school administrators to access student information via a secure network connection.
“As blended learning continues to gain traction in our schools, these districts should be viewing their Internet bandwidth as an abundant and affordable commodity to be used and consumed rather than a scarce resource that must be conserved,” said Kevin Dellicker, co-founder and chief executive of Dellicker Strategies. “The high-speed Ethernet services that providers like Comcast Business offer to our educational clientele are an important resource that provide the Internet access students need to collaborate better, solve problems more efficiently, and take advantage of the many benefits that digital learning can provide.”
This agreement with Comcast Business allows these schools to utilize higher amounts of network capacity at a more cost-effective price than what they had previously. The Ethernet services also offer the opportunity to connect multiple schools within a given district to let students collaborate with each other via a secure network. Future plans are additionally underway to help connect schools across different parts of the state to each other.
“The world is changing, and as the demand for bandwidth-intensive applications continues to increase, it has become imperative for schools to keep up with these demands with high-capacity network services to accommodate these requirements both now and in the future,” said David Dombroski, vice president for Comcast Business, Freedom Region. “Our Ethernet services allow these New Jersey schools to take advantage of fast, reliable and secure telecommunications services without worrying about breaking the bank, which allows them to focus all of their efforts on giving their students the best education possible.”
About Comcast Corporation:
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Comcast Cable:
Comcast Cable is the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
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