[OPLINTECH] OPLIN to provide 100 Mbps circuits

[Stephen Hedges]

At their most recent meeting, the OPLIN Board decided to upgrade all OPLIN
public library circuits to at least 100 Mbps, a total of about 100
upgrades, though there may be a few sites where 100 Mbps is not yet
feasible on the available telecommunications infrastructure. 100 Mbps is
the minimum bandwidth recommended for public libraries by the Federal
Communications Commission, and because that is also the bandwidth
recommended for many schools, pricing from telecommunications vendors for
100 Mbps circuits is usually very competitive. With OPLIN's E-rate
discount, the increase in annual cost should not be prohibitive.

Accordingly, OPLIN has posted an E-rate Form 470 requesting bids from
telecommunication vendors for these upgrades. We specifically asked that
vendors contact OPLIN if they need to visit any libraries for an
engineering review, but some vendors may not notice that instruction. If
people from a telecommunication vendor (such as AT&T, for example) show up
at your library unexpectedly, feel free to call OPLIN (toll-free
888-966-7546) and put them on the line so we can talk to them.

Once we have received bids from vendors, we will have a more accurate idea
of which libraries do not have the infrastructure in their area to support
100 Mbps and can notify those libraries that they will not get a 100 Mbps
circuit – yet. We will keep trying until we can get one for every public
library on OPLIN.

Since we will need to apply for E-rate discounts on these circuits to keep
them affordable, we will be trying to time the installation of the upgrades
for around the beginning of July next year, when the E-rate funding year
starts. OPLIN staff will be in touch with each library throughout the
installation process.

For libraries needing larger circuits, and for OPLIN participants that are
not public libraries, we will continue our current policy of monitoring
bandwidth usage and upgrading to a larger circuit whenever a participant is
using 70% of its current capacity at peak usage times. Note that the 100
Mbps upgrades for many libraries will mean they will not hit the 70% usage
level for many years and will not need to go through another upgrade
process for a long time.

A few states have set a minimum size of 10 Mbps for their public libraries,
but I am not aware of any state that has tried to meet the FCC
recommendation. We may soon be able to boast that at least the main public
libraries in Ohio have achieved that benchmark.

Stephen Hedges
Director, Ohio Public Library Information Network
2323 W. Fifth Ave Suite 130, Columbus 43204
614-728-5250
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