How Can LTE Help Close the Digital Divide in Education?

With the pandemic, home and distance learning accelerated, demanding higher internet speeds for online meetings with audio and video. This became particularly difficult for students in areas with low internet speeds.

School District Number Ten in the Collinsville community in Illinois (United States) partnered with an IT solutions provider to build a private LTE network using Nokia technologies to close the digital divide and bring internet connectivity to approximately 500 students in the communities of Fairmont City and State Park.

The Problem: The Digital Divide

Ensuring the continuity of education everywhere -- from remote areas to low-income rural and urban zones -- became more important than ever. The challenge faced by the Collinsville school district was that high-speed broadband coverage needed to increase dramatically to ensure the continuity of distance learning.

The Plan

The district's Board of Education committed to breaking down the connectivity barrier through an internet solution that was cost-effective and sustainable.

The district explored many different options before deciding on private LTE. Some of the aspects evaluated included: access points, routers on school buses, routers on telephone poles, and paying internet providers to install service in the affected areas. The option of working with private networks emerged quickly after the Federal Communications Commission approved that private companies, cities, and schools could use it.

Together with the technology provider, plans were developed to improve coverage and reliability. A transmission tower was built at Kreitner Elementary School, and microcells were installed at the school, at the Mounds Water District tower, and at locations in the city of Fairmont. Within one year, the network was operational.

The Technology Behind the Network

The centerpiece of the network is an LTE broadband tower built at Kreitner Elementary School that connects to the district's internet service. In total, the network includes four Nokia microcell installations with CBRS, providing nearly 10 square kilometers of coverage in the communities of Fairmont City and State Park. The result enables students to access the school's educational programs from home on equal terms.

The Benefits

The school district was able to fulfill a commitment made more than twenty years ago to install computers in every classroom. This was followed by the implementation of smart boards and Chromebooks for all students.

However, the commitment did not focus solely on computers. The WAN fiber project connected all schools and buildings in the district and provided internet access to all students while at school, but also when they are at home. With the construction of the LTE broadband tower, an additional step was taken to meet the connectivity needs of students in the State Park and Fairmont City areas.

Private 4.9G/LTE networks are the right choice for these new applications because they can match the reliability, predictability, and security of wired solutions while supporting wireless and mobile communications.

Compared to WiFi, private LTE technology offers broader and deeper coverage, carrier-grade reliability, predictable performance, and security.

This use case in education illustrates the advantages of private wireless technology for school districts.

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