Vertical: Education
Application: Enhanced coverage
Ecosystem: NextLight, Baicells
Private Network: LTE, CBRS
The St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado, is deploying a private LTE network by NextLight, a municipal fiber network provider. The school district used funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) to build a private wireless network that will enable 4,000 low-income students to access free broadband service.
NextLight set up 38 cell sites using the CBRS spectrum and gear from Baicells. Currently, the network covers about 50% to 60% of the 4,000 students. NextLight plans to add more sites and more coverage as soon as it can secure more funding. The first phase of the network included 23 cell sites and took just 2.5 weeks to get up and running, according to Dennis Pappas, Director of Fiber Network Operations at NextLight.
NextLight worked closely with Vall Technologies, a Colorado-based private wireless and managed network firm, on the network design. Ron Valdez, CEO of Vall Technologies, said the average antenna site deployed for the private wireless network is about 30 to 35 feet high. He also said that LTE delivers the necessary amount of bandwidth for students, which is about 50 Mbps. The St. Vrain School District will handle the distribution of the customer premise equipment (CPEs) and currently has about 500 CPEs ready to distribute. The school district has plans to use the network as a foundation for some smart city applications as well.
