Richland School District teachers are getting more efficient access to Internet video resources. Information Systems staff are transitioning the District's Wide Area Network from a T1 line to City of Richland dark fiber. The T1 has a bandwidth of 1.44 megabits while the dark fiber is 1 gigahertz. It's a significant improvement.

"The T1 line is slow. Our phones have priority so online data such as video clips get bottlenecked because of the narrow bandwidth," says Mike Leseberg, Director of Information Systems. "The new dark fiber is increasing our capacity by 600 percent. Teachers can pull in video quickly and that enhances classroom instruction."

The improvements are complete at Richland High, Carmichael and Marcus Whitman. Other schools within the City of Richland will be upgraded this spring.

In the meantime, the three West Richland schools and White Bluffs Elementary School have been upgraded to a bandwidth of 35 megabits using PocketiNet Wireless.

"Access to the dark fiber line was not possible at these locations so this is the next best option," added Leseberg. "It's a definite improvement over the T1 line."