MARKHAM, Ont. – Cygnal Technologies Corporation and Rogers Cable today announced the companies have won a 10-year contract to provide enhanced Internet connectivity to the York Catholic District School Board.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies – along with Aurora Cable TV Ltd. for schools that fall outside of Rogers Cable’s territory – will provide a complete package of managed network services for 76 elementary schools and 12 secondary schools. The installation is scheduled to begin this August.
The 10-year contract includes the provisioning of multiple voice, data and IP services through a simple, cost-effective and scalable design. Each of the schools will be wired with fibre optics and linked through Rogers’ network services, providing an extension of the School Board’s local area network using the Rogers shared IP infrastructure.
The high capacity network will offer students a richer learning experience by assuring them access to the growing body of online educational content and resources. Classroom-based Internet instruction helps students develop their critical thinking and research skills, and increases their comfort with modern information technologies. These skills are growing in importance both in the workforce and in the daily lives of young people.
And, after experiencing the speeds and twitchability fibre to the classroom can offer, just watch them ask for their fibre from their parents when they go home and log onto the net with their copper hookup.
"The York Catholic District School Board is committed to delivering a powerful learning experience to the more than 53,000 students that go through our schools each year," said Elizabeth Crowe, chair, York Catholic District School Board, in the press release. "By establishing Internet connectivity in virtually every classroom, we can provide more efficient communications and information sharing, and ensure that all students can benefit from the most modern learning opportunities available today."
"As the overall integrator for this project, Cygnal is delighted to work with Rogers Business Solutions and Aurora Cable to deliver enhanced network services to the York District Catholic School Board," said Todd Rutherford, president of Cygnal Network Solutions, in the release. "Providing innovative network solutions and ongoing managed services represents an attractive market opportunity that will continue to grow in importance for Cygnal."
"Rogers is committed to meeting the unique needs of various customer groups by building on the strength and flexibility of our networks and working together with the best solutions partners," said Paul Nielsen, president, Rogers Business Solutions. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to combine our network infrastructure and capabilities with Cygnal Technologies’ managed network services to enable the York Catholic District School Board to provide the best learning experience to students across the York Region."
