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Infrastructure Upgrades
Fiber Optics
The project to install a modern fiber optic backbone and update the existing fiber paths that were installed more than 20 years ago is complete. Fiber optic networks transmit signals via light across cables comprised of strands of glass inside insulated casings. They're designed for high-performance data networking and telecommunications. Compared to copper-wired cables, fiber optics facilitate higher bandwidths and transmit information over longer distances. Nearly two miles of cabling was been pulled through the tunnels, ceilings and conduits of South Campus. A similar amount of fiber cable was installed between the network wiring closets and at the main data center at North Campus. Additionally, a number of previously-unserved buildings (Bennett Field Concessions and Press Box at South Campus – Maintenance Building at North Campus) were connected with the new fiber. The cost to `the district was roughly half the original estimates due to the bundling of the projects with the contractors and a number of other favorable conditions existing at the time of the undertaking.
Internet Services
The district is served via connections to two Internet Service Providers and participates in the Village of Western Springs Municipal Area Network Consortium. Upgrades of the services in the Fall of 2021 and the reconfiguration of the consortium’s services resulted in a 30-fold increase in the bandwidth available to LT and the other consortium members. The reconfiguration of the consortium operations also made that connection eligible for federal grant assistance, which holds the consortium’s costs steady despite the significant bandwidth increase.