Verizon is providing high-speed internet for thousands of student by delivering enhanced connectivity to 80 Bureau of Indian Education schools operated by Native American tribes on 64 reservations in 13 states.
Along with reliable internet, this network investment across tribal lands is expected to also connect more devices for students, supporting BIE’s mission to provide quality education opportunities for all ages in accordance with a tribe’s needs for cultural and economic well-being.
Work will occur in Arizona, California, Kansas, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
“A quality, high-bandwidth connection is critical for students to be able to learn from wherever they are — especially in more remote areas,” said Maggie Hallbach, senior vice president for Verizon Public Sector.
According to Verizon, students should have added bandwidth as early as this fall, and the overall infrastructure work across the 13 states will take place through 2023. Native American students will benefit from more advanced technology in the classroom and increased speed and bandwidth.
Verizon also said it coordinated with multiple third-party access suppliers to design and engineer special access arrangements on a site-by-site basis.
“We believe this is a fundamental right for all students, and by upgrading the technology and infrastructure across these tribal lands, including many with Gigabit connections, we’re helping BIE with its mission to enable a more comprehensive learning experience, preparing these students for the future,” Hallbach added.
Through work awarded by the General Services Administration’s Networx contract, Verizon previously upgraded more than 100 sites from legacy T1.5s to 100MB sites. Many of those schools will now gain access to 1Gb internet connections through an extension of Verizon’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions task order.