Comcast Business Services announced this morning that it is providing its Metro Ethernet services to the Farmington, Conn., Public School District in order to help the district’s 4,000 students meet a statewide online test-taking initiative ahead of schedule.
The school district comprises four elementary schools, one high school and two middle schools, and when the state of Connecticut announced it wanted online test-taking in place by the 2014-2015 school year, the district turned to Comcast.
Farmington Public Schools needed to ensure that its online educational tools for teachers, students and their parents were easily accessible 24/7, regardless of where they were. Approximately 92 percent of Farmington students in grades 7-12 regularly check grades and homework assignments online through PowerSchool, and the school’s E-Friday Folder program allows all notices to be emailed to parents, reducing a significant amount of copying and saving both dollars and time.
The district is now using Comcast Business Services’ Ethernet Network Service (ENS), which connects all of the buildings and provides access to all of the Web-based services that the school’s students, parents and teachers use.
“School districts like Farmington are quickly realizing that implementing innovative technologies can not only help them comply with new government initiatives, but can also help them improve the learning experiences of their students, which is a win-win situation for all,” said Charlie Tzoumas, vice president for Comcast Business Services in the Western New England Region. “Our Metro Ethernet services are a cost-effective, reliable and secure combination of best-in-breed technology solutions, coupled with the local support staff that schools and local businesses need to run their daily operations.”
After several years of development, Comcast first launched its Metro Ethernet suite of services last year, and now it has them available across its entire footprint. Metro Ethernet services represent a step up into the medium-size business sector for Comcast.
In its most recent earnings report last month, Comcast said business services were the second largest contributor to cable revenue growth last year, with revenue increasing 41 percent to $1.8 billion, with most of that growth coming from the businesses with less than 20 employees.
