1. 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

2. 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?”

3. Part 1 Understanding Broadband Availability at National Level

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Part 2 Roaring Fork School District and Glenwood Springs Case Study

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. Part 3 Analytics and Student Data

15. 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

16. 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

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

18. 2018 Student Login Counts By Month
Lowest connectivity during winter break with increased usage in the spring

19. Part 4 Future Projects, Business Case, and Summary

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Contact Info – Q&A
Ron Valdez
President/CTO – VALL Technologies Inc