Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) will get connected with the fiber optic cables deployed by Fibertech Networks. The management has taken decision to implement fiber optic broadband infrastructure to all of its schools and offices. The students in Pittsburgh Public Schools use handy smart devices such as iPads to aid the learning process. Use of iPads and then connectivity to the internet or the learning resources requires supporting network. Fiber optic cables are known for their enormous data handling capacity. To support the devices. the school district runs batch file downloads at the end of each school day. This process demands a bandwidth of up to 4 Gbps between each schools and the district data center.
The current network use 1 Gbps transmission signal split between 10 schools. Splitting of transmissions signals cause significant loss and reduces the quality of service. Students get slow access to the datacenter which creates unpleasant learning experience. Pittsburgh Public Schools wants to increase the speed of their data network between all their sites at a lower cost. The new fiber optic cable network would enable student use iPads and other devices to access online educational tools without experience the limit of bandwidth.
The district selected Fibertech Networks to deploy the fiber optic broadband to the schools and its offices. The 10 Gbps Ethernet network will connect 61 Pittsburgh Public School sites, which will be terminated at the datacenter. Fibertech will provide a 10 gigabit additional ring with 1 Gbps of dedicated internet access to its datacenter. To achieve this, Fibertech will make use of its existing fiber optic network in Pittsburgh that spans over 768 kilometers. The new fiber optic network will connect to the existing fiber optic networks using converged packet optical networking solution provided by Ciena.
Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., Fibertech Networks is a leader in providing fiber-optic based network services throughout mid-size cities in the Eastern and Central regions of the United States. Fibertech was founded in May of 2000, has built metro-area fiber networks in 30 mid-size markets in the Eastern U.S., and is led by Court Square Capital Partners of New York, N.Y. The company announced on April 27 that is has entered into an agreement to merge with Lightower Fiber Networks.
The combined land area of these municipalities is 55.3 square miles with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In March 2012, the superintendent became Linda Lane. She has a performance-based contract until Jan 2014. Lane served as Deputy Superintendent from 2006 until her promotion. The school district operates 65 schools with 5,180 full-time employees and serves 29,445 students with an operating budget of $533.6 million. Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in United States. It is in the state of Pennsylvania with a population of 305,842 and the county seat of Allegheny County.
