Consolidated Electric Cooperative Offers Gigabit to Schools

Ohio’s Consolidated Electric Cooperative is one of a growing number of electric companies that have undertaken the task of deploying broadband where it wasn’t previously available or was available only at a high cost. Consolidated’s approach to broadband is different from that of some other electric companies in that the company is not offering fiber-to-the-home -- not at this point anyway -- but instead is focusing on providing middle mile connectivity to other network operators and to schools, businesses and government locations.

The company now offers service at speeds of at least a gigabit per second at discounted prices to schools in 15 districts, with some schools getting 2 Gbps service, said Doug Payauys, vice president of information systems for Consolidated Electric Cooperative. The school gigabit deployments came about through an agreement with META Solutions, an information technology company that specializes in the educational market. “We worked out deals with META to get to a number of school districts out of the gate two years ago,” said Payauys. The schools getting gigabit connectivity will use it to support an online curriculum designed to let students learn at their own pace. Additionally the high-speed connectivity will support the increased demand on the schools’ Wi-Fi networks that has resulted from an influx of tablets, smartphones and other connected learning devices.