Faster school districts

Fatbeam, a Post Falls-based broadband access provider, recently signed long term agreements with the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls school districts to build high-capacity, fiber-optic networks and deliver 2 gigabyte broadband services to school district facilities.

The school districts will gain greater network speeds and be able to access previously unavailable technology services, reported Fatbeam, in a statement released this week.

"As staff and students become more and more dependent on technology in teaching and learning it becomes increasingly important that we provide a robust and reliable infrastructure," said Jean Bengfort, the Coeur d'Alene district's technology provider.

The combined contracts for the networks average 7.5 years in length and exceed $2 million in value. However, the actual cost to the school districts will be significantly less because the bulk will be covered by the Federal Communications Commission's E-Rate program.

Coeur d'Alene's five-year contract is for $52,884 annually. Without E-Rate reimbursement, the annual cost would be $204,000. Post Falls will pay $24,000 with some ongoing yearly costs.

"We were already past the capacity barrier with our wireless solution and the 2 gigabyte fiber network will allow us to do things we simply couldn't do in the past," said John Pilmore, Post Falls School District Technology Coordinator.

As part of a greater strategy for Fatbeam, the company will build fiber between the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls markets, add fiber services to the University of Idaho Research Park in Post Falls, and extend the network to the TierPoint facility in Liberty Lake.

"Having grown up in Coeur d'Alene and now building a broadband fiber optic infrastructure in Coeur d'Alene, it's like coming home again," stated veteran telecom entrepreneur Greg Green, Fatbeam's president and co-founder.

Green, who partnered with Seattle-based entrepreneur Craig McCaw in founding NEXTLINK, was part of the senior management team as the President of NEXTLINK Washington, which went public in an IPO raising over $400M. Later, Green founded regional telecom company OneEighty Communications, which became Avista Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avista Corp., where he acted as CEO.