Just as books and pencils have been part of the learning process for hundreds of years, an Internet connection is now becoming equally as important in educational settings. The Internet provides access to information, and the Laconia School District in New Hampshire is ensuring all of its faculty and students will have the most reliable connection possible by deploying FirstLight's high-speed, fiber-based telecommunications services.

The Laconia School District is going to use FirstLight's services in the entire district, which consists of three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school and a regional technical center.

The district's network manager, Jefferey Twombly selected FirstLight after a thorough vetting process from many different vendors. The school district was looking for a solution that could scale to address future growth, along with competitively priced high-speed fiber-based Internet.

Twombly said, "Each day, our schools require more and more bandwidth, and we needed a network solution that could keep pace. FirstLight stood out among all of the potential vendors we reviewed for enabling the bandwidth expansions that we will inevitably need down the road, while also offering the high quality, localized customer service and support we need today."

With close to 2,000 students as well as faculty accessing applications, streaming video, online courses, webinars and more at any given time throughout the school day, reliable access can be difficult if the right provider is not chosen.

In addition to providing fiber optic data, Internet, data center and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers, FirstLight also has a comprehensive portfolio of secure, scalable telecommunications solutions for K-12 districts and libraries to support advanced voice/VoIP, multicast, video and distance learning applications.

"The amount of bandwidth required to allow students and faculty to seamlessly access the latest technologies and applications… is not always easy for school districts to ascertain. FirstLight's team of experts is available to guide schools through both the E-Rate process and to design the solution best suited to support their bandwidth needs," said Kurt Van Wagenen, President and CEO of FirstLight.

The Federal Communications Committee’s E-Rate program was established in 1996 with the goal of promoting technology with affordable services for schools and libraries. Through the E-Rate program, FirstLight Fiber provides Priority One services, a recurring telecommunications and Internet access solutions.

The Laconia School District will not only have quality fiber-based Interne services, but it will be more affordable through FirstLight's participation of the E-Rate program.