Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE)

PROJECT PURPOSE

OneNet, a division of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, requests ARPA funds to upgrade Oklahoma Community Anchor Network (OCAN) equipment, originally purchased in 2012 through a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration?s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The current OCAN system is limited to delivering 40 separate services statewide and only supports two 100 Gigabit Ethernet services, with the remaining service capacity limited to no more than 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Since the beginning of the pandemic, requests for bandwidth upgrades have increased at a rapid rate. Oklahoma?s colleges and universities need capabilities in excess of 10 Gigabit delivery for research opportunities and partnerships with other organizations across the state and the nation. Additionally, many K-12 schools, libraries, healthcare providers, and government agencies need access to higher bandwidths to better serve their communities. To meet higher bandwidth demand across the state, OneNet requests $7.3 million to upgrade OCAN?s Adva optical equipment from its current configuration to a more coherent design capable of providing 100 Gigabit Ethernet across all 40 OCAN services.

EVIDENCE

A key takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is that access to high-speed, reliable, affordable internet connections is an essential resource for living in a digitally dependent world. Research demonstrates that investments in broadband infrastructure yield significant social returns as increasing access and usage of broadband technology leads to higher property values, increased job and population growth, and lower unemployment rates. Additionally, broadband expansion improves health and life outcomes by offering access to remote healthcare providers, online social networks and educational opportunities.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of reliable, fast broadband connectivity for Oklahomans. Students in both K-12 and postsecondary education settings transitioned to online learning, and many employers adopted telework arrangements in an effort to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oklahoma ranked 47th in the nation for average internet speed and percent of residents connected. Data from the Federal Communications Commission shows that 79% of Oklahomans have access to broadband internet, compared to 94% nationally. Additionally, only 48% of Oklahoma?s rural residents have access to a broadband connection, compared to 74% nationally. Rural Oklahomans were disproportionately impacted by the quick transitions to online learning and telework that resulted from the pandemic. In addition to geographic divides in broadband access, low-income residents were also disproportionately impacted by increasing reliance on internet access to continue education and work during the pandemic. Approximately 40% of Oklahoma households learning less than $20,000 per year have no internet connection, compared to 6% of those earning over $75,000 annually. Research demonstrates that lack of access to reliable broadband internet links to poorer health outcomes and greater social and economic inequities.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Project performance will be measured directly by the increase in available bandwidth per optical wavelength on the network. This newly available bandwidth will increase connectivity for network subscribers? transport services. After project completion, current bandwidth availability will increase 10-fold.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding