Keep ahead of K-12 bandwidth demands with high-capacity networking
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WHITE PAPER Keep ahead of K-12 bandwidth demands with high-capacity networking
WHITE PAPER KEEP AHEAD OF K-12 BANDWIDTH DEMANDS WITH HIGH-CAPACITY NETWORKING
Bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming video,
esports and online collaboration are becoming more
common in K-12 schools. Remote and hybrid learning are
putting strain on school district networks. Smart networked
infrastructure such as lighting, door locks and security
cameras are also testing network capacity.
With such rapid innovation, K-12 school districts are quickly outgrowing their
networks. Schools need an increasing amount of capacity to support modern
teaching and learning initiatives — and that’s especially true for large, county-
wide school systems.
K-12 bandwidth demands are rising exponentially. Based on current usage
trends, the nonprofit organization EducationSuperHighway says school
School districts should districts should plan for internet bandwidth growth of 50 to 100 percent year
over year.1 With a 100-percent annual growth rate, a school district with a
plan for internet 1 Gbps internet circuit now would need 32 Gbps of bandwidth in five years.
bandwidth growth of 50 To keep their organizations ahead of the curve, K-12 IT leaders must understand
to 100 percent year over their own network demands and have a forward-looking plan for addressing
them. Leaders also need to partner with a connectivity provider that can set up
year, according to the their school district for success by offering opportunities to expand network
capacity easily as the need arises.
EducationSuperHighway.
Demand is surging
In its most recent “Broadband Imperative” report, the State Educational
Technology Directors Association (SETDA) made the following
recommendations for how much bandwidth schools should have in order to
provide media-rich education by the 2023-24 school year. 2
• Small districts (fewer than 1,000 students): At least 2.8 Mbps per user,
with a minimum of 300 Mbps per district.
• Medium districts (1,000 to 10,000 students): At least 2 Mbps per user.
• Large districts (more than 10,000 students): At least 1.4 Mbps per user.
2 enterprise.spectrum.com/k12ed
WHITE PAPER KEEP AHEAD OF K-12 BANDWIDTH DEMANDS WITH HIGH-CAPACITY NETWORKING
Based on these recommendations, a school system with 25,000 students
should have at least 35 Gbps of total bandwidth by 2023-24.
As K-12 school systems continue to innovate, each year the amount of
bandwidth needed to support these advancements increases. In response,
K-12 school systems are adding more network capacity — and multi-gigabit
networks are becoming more common. Consider these examples:
• One California school district spans 10 schools and serves nearly 24,000
students. The district office is connected to the internet at 100 Gbps via
fiber-optic cable and shares that bandwidth with several other school
districts. Schools connect over nine 10 Gbps fiber-optic connections. The
district has 4.19 Mbps of bandwidth per student, which is nearly three times
the amount recommended by SETDA. 3
• In Utah, the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) connects the
state’s K-12 schools, technical colleges, higher education institutions, public
libraries and healthcare providers. K-12 schools have at least 1 Gbps for every
1,000 students through this statewide network.4
Understanding key stressors
Giving every student a digital device for learning is rapidly becoming the
standard among K-12 school systems, and these “1:1 learning” initiatives proved
their value when schools shifted to remote learning during the pandemic.
However, savvy K-12 leaders understand the need to plan networks with the
assumption that students will be using more than one internet-connected
device at a time for learning. In fact, 57 percent of school district CIOs
anticipate that students will be using at least two devices for learning within
the next three years — and 24 percent believe their networks will have to
support three or more devices per student in that time. 5
3 enterprise.spectrum.com/k12edWHITE PAPER KEEP AHEAD OF K-12 BANDWIDTH DEMANDS WITH HIGH-CAPACITY NETWORKING
Meanwhile, the number of non-instructional devices connected to school
networks is also increasing. These include security cameras, networked sensors
and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
It’s not just the growing number of devices that is straining K-12 networks, but
the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive applications as well. Here are three key
network stressors in particular.
57% Video streaming
Seventy percent of bandwidth use is driven by video streaming, SETDA
says, and this figure is expected to keep rising.7 According to the Federal
of school district CIOs Communications Commission, streaming high-definition video requires a
anticipate that students will minimum of five to eight Mbps of bandwidth per video stream — but as much
be using at least two devices as 25 Mbps for Ultra HD 4K video. 8
for learning within the next
Esports
three years.6
Esports is rising in popularity as young gamers find a competitive and team-
based outlet for their passion. More than 1,200 schools now participate in the
High School Esports League, a six-fold increase from 2018 — and this is just one
of several leagues available for K-12 students.9 At least 17 states and the District
of Columbia now recognize a state high school esports champion, and student
players can vie for $16 million in scholarship money for collegiate esports.10
For K-12 esports teams, winning doesn’t just take extraordinary skill and
gaming acumen. It also requires a top-notch technology infrastructure.
Matches involve rapid-fire action and split-second decision making, and speed
matters. Even the slightest delay in network transmission could put teams at a
considerable disadvantage.
During the course of an average game, a single League of Legends player
will use about 16 megabytes of data in downloads and 3 MB in uploads.11
Now consider there are five players on a team, and the challenge is further
compounded by the fact that esports spectatorship involves live streaming
matches on a platform such as Twitch. K-12 technology leaders have to make
sure their networks can handle this additional traffic with no lag time that
could disrupt performance.
Augmented and virtual reality
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming more prevalent
in K-12 classrooms. In fact, 54 percent of edtech leaders believe AR will have a
“significant” or “transformational” impact on teaching and learning in the next
five years, and 52 percent say the same thing about VR.12
Examples of how AR and VR can enhance instruction include virtual field trips
that allow students to explore areas without ever leaving the classroom; virtual
3D models for science; and virtual lab experiences that allow students to work
with normally dangerous tools or chemicals in a safe and age-appropriate way.
While these activities can enrich education, they are also very bandwidth-
intensive. The current generation of 360-degree video requires 10 to 50 Mbps
of bandwidth per user, one analyst estimates. However, as the quality of
immersive experiences improves (and as more simultaneous usage occurs),
it is expected that next-generation 360-degree video will require 50 to 200
Mbps per user.13
4 enterprise.spectrum.com/k12edWHITE PAPER KEEP AHEAD OF K-12 BANDWIDTH DEMANDS WITH HIGH-CAPACITY NETWORKING
Planning for the future
How can K-12 leaders plan for such rapid growth in network use and keep ahead
of bandwidth demands? Here are four critical strategies.
Understand usage trends. Effective planning begins with knowing current
network utilization, where this traffic is coming from and how it’s trending.
Having full visibility into network usage over time gives IT leaders the insight
needed to plan successfully for the future.
Anticipate growth. Consider what new applications your network will need to
support in the next five to 10 years that aren’t being supported now. Talk with
curriculum leaders, students and colleagues in other districts to learn what
capabilities they expect and what innovations might be coming down the road.
Plan around peak usage. To ensure you have enough bandwidth to support
digital learning, estimate your needs based on “peak” events when everyone
is using rich multimedia tools simultaneously. EducationSuperHighway
Spectrum Enterprise recommends adding a 20 percent bandwidth “buffer” to your calculation to
has made it easy, quick make sure you have enough capacity.14
and cost-effective for Create a path for expansion. Design and implement flexible networks that
match current demands but can expand easily to support future requirements.
K-12 schools and districts Making small, incremental improvements every few years is much easier
than having to rip and replace your entire infrastructure. Choose a network
to get E-rate eligible connectivity partner that offers opportunities for growth.
internet and WAN
How Spectrum Enterprise can help
services with bandwidth Spectrum Enterprise has made it easy, quick and cost-effective for K-12
up to 100 Gbps. entities to get high-capacity circuits with up to 100 Gbps connectivity for the
following services:
• Fiber Internet Access (FIA), for fast, symmetrical internet service
delivered on our private fiber network with 24/7/365 U.S.-based support
and guaranteed 99.99 percent availability.
• Ethernet wide area network (WAN) services that provide scalable
point-to-point connectivity between buildings and locations.
• Wavelength Services that use dense wavelength division multiplexing
(DWDM) technology to ensure high-speed data transfer between locations
with very low latency.
These high-speed services, which are E-rate eligible, will support a variety of
K-12 uses — from esports and streaming video to augmented and virtual reality.
They will enhance the performance of cloud-based platforms, improve speed
and performance for remote and in-person learners alike and support full
business continuity.
5 enterprise.spectrum.com/k12edWHITE PAPER KEEP AHEAD OF K-12 BANDWIDTH DEMANDS WITH HIGH-CAPACITY NETWORKING
Spectrum Enterprise high-speed services will give K-12 school systems the
flexibility to implement network solutions that meet their evolving needs as
they continue to innovate. These services provide a simple way to achieve
real-time connectivity between school locations, no matter how advanced
your requirements or how distributed your network becomes — including for
statewide or multi-county networks.
Learn how Spectrum Enterprise can help you meet your network
bandwidth needs.
Learn more
1. “K-12 Bandwidth Goals,” EducationSuperHighway, https://www.educationsuperhighway.org/upgrade/types-of-fiber-services/k-12-bandwidth-goals/.
2. “The Broadband Imperative III: Driving Connectivity, Access and Student Success,” State Educational Technology Directors Association, Nov. 2019,
https://www.setda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/SETDA_Broadband-Imperative-III_110519.pdf.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. “The State of EdTech Leadership in 2020,” Consortium for School Networking, https://www.cosn.org/focus-areas/leadership-vision/state-edtech-
leadership.
6. Ibid.
7. “The Broadband Imperative III: Driving Connectivity, Access and Student Success,” State Educational Technology Directors Association, Nov. 2019,
https://www.setda.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/SETDA_Broadband-Imperative-III_110519.pdf.
8. “Broadband Speed Guide,” Federal Communications Commission, https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/broadband-speed-guide.
9. “4 ways schools can futureproof networks for an esports takeover,” eSchool News, April 16, 2020, https://www.eschoolnews.com/2020/04/16/4-
ways-schools-can-futureproof-networks-for-an-esports-takeover/.
10. “As Esports Take Off, High School Leagues Get In The Game,” National Public Radio, Jan. 24, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/798172352/as-
esports-take-off-high-school-leagues-get-in-the-game.
11. “What is LoL’s typical data and bandwidth usage?,” Learn with League, https://oce.learnwithleague.com/faq-items/what-is-lols-typical-data-and-
bandwidth-usage/.
12. “The State of EdTech Leadership in 2020,” Consortium for School Networking, https://www.cosn.org/focus-areas/leadership-vision/state-edtech-
leadership.
13. “VR and AR Will Push the Limits of Connectivity,” immersed.io, https://immersed.io/pushing-the-limits-of-connectivity/.
14. “K-12 Bandwidth Goals,” EducationSuperHighway, https://www.educationsuperhighway.org/upgrade/types-of-fiber-services/k-12-bandwidth-goals/.
About Spectrum Enterprise
Spectrum Enterprise, a part of Charter Communications, Inc., is a national provider of scalable, fiber technology solutions serving America’s largest
businesses and communications service providers. The broad Spectrum Enterprise portfolio includes networking and managed services solutions:
Internet access, Ethernet access and networks, Voice and TV solutions. Spectrum Enterprise’s industry-leading team of experts works closely with
clients to achieve greater business success by providing solutions designed to meet their evolving needs. More information about Spectrum Enterprise
can be found at enterprise.spectrum.com.
Not all products, pricing and services are available in all areas. Pricing and actual speeds may vary.
Restrictions may apply. Subject to change without notice. ©2021 Charter Communications. All rights reserved.
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