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Arialink announced today ten school districts of Allegan County signed agreements to purchase Arialink services through a consortium led by the Allegan Area Educational Service Agency (AAESA). The services will include fiber optic (Gigabit) Wide Area Network (WAN), Local and Long Distance Telephone Service and fiber delivered Internet services.
Arialink will bring fiber optic capacity to 14 participating sites, which will add 105 new route miles to Arialink’s current statewide fiber optic network. The network will bring fiber optic capacity to underserved areas of West Michigan that suffers from a lack of competitive broadband or advanced telecom options. Arialink hopes to leverage this network extension for the benefit of all regional business and residential consumers. The Allegan AESA will use the fiber optic network to facilitate educational resource sharing, cost reduction and integration of advanced curriculum into the region’s education programs.
The following districts are participating in the consortium: Allegan AESA (head end), Allegan Public Schools, Fennville Public Schools, Hopkins Public Schools including Sycamore Elementary, Martin Public Schools, Otsego Public Schools, Plainwell Community Schools, Wayland Union Schools including Dorr Elementary, Outlook Academy, and Discovery Elementary. Each of these schools will connect with the Gigabit WAN, as well as receive Arialink telephone and Internet services. The Gigabit WAN will also inter-connect the district schools with the Kalamazoo RESA and Ottawa Area ISD near Holland.
AAESA superintendent Ron Fuller describes the project as "A huge step to the future for Allegan County schools and communities. This opens-up a whole new spectrum of student opportunities."
“I’m confident the vision and leadership of the Allegan AESA will provide a dramatic impact on the educational performance in the County,” said Jason Schreiber, President of Arialink. “I’m proud of Arialink’s participation in the execution of their strategy.”
About Arialink Arialink is a leading provider of Metro Ethernet, Internet and Telecom services for business and educational consumers. With hundreds of miles of fiber optic services in Michigan, Arialink delivers services to the largest and most successful consumers in Michigan.
About Allegan AESA
Also known in Michigan as Intermediate School Districts, these organizations were originally created by the State of Michigan Department of Education to provide school districts with programs and services too expensive or too extensive to be offered individually. Throughout America, these agencies are referred to as “invisible partners” as they are little known to the public, however, their traditional clients - school districts - consider ISDs essential to quality education. They provide leadership, programs, resources and services to the local school districts that many could not afford on their own.
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