VALL Technologies Inc. How Wi-Fi is Helping Students in Low Income Communities Case Study – Glenwood Springs CO By: Ron Valdez – President/CTO June 2018

Doing Something Great Starts By Solving a Problem Mission Statement By Jeff Gatlin – COO Roaring Fork School District “How can the school district ensure every student has equal access to education resources from home?”

Part 1 Understanding Broadband Availability at National Level

Broadband Use By Demographic 2017 Study by Brookings Institute** shows alarming low broadband subscription rates by low income households Probability of students having suitable access to broadband is limited in low income housing areas ** Signs of Digital Distress – Mapping broadband availability and subscription in American Neighborhoods – Sept 2017

Broadband Availability - Under 18 Years of Age Study shows that almost 10 million children in rural communities have low subscription or no availability of broadband services. Bottom line: Children in rural, low income communities are at risk of being underserved by sufficient broadband service.

Cost of Providing Broadband Service Cost of broadband service is a huge factor in determining broadband subscription per household. 2016 FCC Broadband Data Report shows USA is among the most expensive countries for broadband service.

Part 2 Roaring Fork School District and Glenwood Springs Case Study

School District Objectives Find low income area with moderate student count Work with engineering firm to design and deploy wireless broadband coverage Rollout simple/cost effective solution for case study Partner with the City of Glenwood Springs for broadband service Evaluate education usage and quality of service

Identifying Demand for Student Broadband Determine student requirements for home broadband Identify underserved students Identify Perform GIS based analysis on underserved students Determine broadband availability in these areas Analyze View all technology options (wired and wireless) Cost analysis and partnerships Plan Cloud based platform makes access available from anywhere The process starts by identifying demand for broadband at home, then figuring out resources to supply broadband.

Key Players in Case Study Identified key areas for case study based on student data Broadband customer of City of Glenwood Springs Provider of fiber, power, and utility pole access Data center real estate for network hardware/software Installation manpower Wireless/IT engineering firm providing design, project management, and implementation On-going support

Case Study Location Design Details Ruckus outdoor AP’s One omni AP and two sectored AP’s 5 GHz mesh Root AP’s fed via fiber demarc (hardened switch in outdoor enclosure) City provided poles City provided power Design Details Demographic Details: Average Student Count: 50 Location: Glenwood Springs Grade Range: K-12, mostly elementary and middle school

Wi-Fi Network Parameters Goal was to deploy a simple, open access network in order to determine true education usage Network is open No throttling No filtering

Installation – Sept 2015 AP’s were installed above clutter and oriented with clear line of site for effective meshing and overall coverage Installation and engineering was complete in one day

Part 3 Analytics and Student Data

Section Summary Login data collected at Google Admin control panel Throughput measured at firewall/router Increased data usage - year over year Increased connections during heavy testing time frames in the spring

How Student Usage is Tracked Google Admin Console City of Glenwood Springs Network Source IP address is logged when accessing Google environment Router Public IP Run report in admin console on source public IP address for for usage. This provides counts on students accessing Google EDU via the public network Throughput analytics can be collected on WAN port of the router/firewall and stored over time to evaluate total bandwidth usage

Higher Peak and Average Throughput in 2018 Average & Peaks < 10 Mbps Higher Avg & Peaks > 10 Mbps Higher Peak and Average Throughput in 2018

2018 Student Login Counts By Month Lowest connectivity during winter break with increased usage in the spring

Part 4 Future Projects, Business Case, and Summary

What’s Next? Expansion to other low income housing areas in the Roaring Fork Valley (Carbondale, El Jebel, Basalt) Joint coordination with Pitkin County and Mammoth Networks

Business Case & Monetization Several options for generating content and sponsorship revenue What’s the Business Case? Free internet isn’t free – Someone has to pay for it. Is it possible to monetize the network and provide a free service? Utilize guest network for business sponsorship, advertising, and creative application based advertising.

Summary Our case study has shown that students will use free public internet service for education purposes. It’s not a simple task. Careful coordination amongst several groups required to make it successful. CAPEX and OPEX cost is a major factor in deploying a network. Good design with good hardware/software will help save money over time. If required, it is possible to monetize public networks through sponsorship and content.

Contact Info – Q&A Ron Valdez President/CTO – VALL Technologies Inc ron@valltechnologies.com 303.775.0007