The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has put a call out encouraging local rural education partners to consider applying for a grant to fund place-based educational programs. The Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Place-Based Education Grantmaking Program of Commerce Trust will provide $102,500 in support this year, with the typical award amount ranging between $10,000 and $20,000. For more information about this grant opportunity or to learn more about the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Rural Schools Partnership, please visit www.cfozarks.org or www.ruralschoolspartnership.org/grants.

It’s that time of year again.  Time to verify that your Form 470 has been filed with the Universal Services Administration Company (USAC).

The last day to file your Form 470 is February 21, 2012.  This is the first submission a school makes to the USAC organization for request of funding.  The Form 470 is the step that opens up the bidding process and allows vendors, such as Sho-Me to bid on your district’s technology opportunities. 

The program grants millions of dollars each year to schools districts and libraries across the United States for telecommunications and Internet services.  Missouri schools utilize this program and benefits from these funds.  The formula for funding is tied to the school’s free and reduced lunch program and is as follows.

                         Courtesy Universal Services Administration Company

As stated above, February 21 is the final day that the Form 470 can be submitted.  Once the Form 470 is complete, the school has to allow 28 days for bid and quote submissions.  The next form to be filed is the Form 471.  This form is filed when the school district selects the winning bid and awards the project to that vendor.  The form 471 is due for submission no later than midnight on March 20, 2012.

For more information, about this program and the benefits it can provide your local school; visit the schools and library page on the USAC website.  The program does limit the role Sho-Me can take in assisting school districts with these steps as this is a bidding process.  We are always available for general questions about the program and will try to put you in touch with the right people to help.

The project will be completed in two phases.  The first phase will be the southern portion of the route and it is anticipated to be completed by August 2012.  The second phase will then be underway with an anticipated completion date of March 2013.  Once the project is complete, the new system will tie into the existing network in two places, creating a ring and providing superior  protection.  Below you will find a map of the proposed route.

For more information about this deployment of fiber optic network or to how this network might be able to help your business or project, please contact us by emailing us at marketing@shometech.com.

Southeast Missouri Network Upgrades

Backbone Fiber

                 One of the first tasks associated with the Sho-Me Mo project is the construction of the backbone fiber. The new routes will tie into our existing network and will introduce our network to several new communities.  Our original plan was to begin construction in April of 2011, but due to filing and environmental regulations, the official project kickoff didn’t occur until June.  Our quest to begin the fiber installation hit another hurdle when we learned that the delivery of the fiber optic cables we had ordered for the project was going to be delayed.  The delivery that was anticipated for the April/May 2011 time frame had been pushed back to early 2012.  While this was discouraging, we were able to continue with construction by burying the conduit which is used to hold and protect the fiber underground.  Fortunately, our first shipment of fiber optics arrived early and we anticipate another delivery in the coming weeks.  Once the conduit is in place, the fiber will be installed by “blowing” the fiber into the conduit.  Blowing is a combination of low force pushing and a powerful flow of air. Some of the fiber blowing has been initiated in the area of Linn, Missouri. During the first phase of our project, we will construct fiber in and between the communities of Long Lane, Buffalo, Bolivar, Warsaw, Sedalia, California, Jefferson City, Linn, Vienna, Hermann, and Washington.   This will total 233 miles of fiber.  At present time we have approximately 157 miles of conduit in place.  Fiber has been placed in approximately 4 miles of the conduit. We hope to see a conclusion of Phase I construction in early to mid-2012.

Community Anchor Institutions

One of the major benefits of our project is that we are connecting 100 Community Anchor Institutions, or CAIs.  These CAIs are places like schools, government, and public safety entities that will truly benefit from broadband services.  As stated above, we have identified 100 of these entities and we will build fiber into each one, allowing them to take advantage of our services.  Sedalia is a community where we are actively working and we have already finalized the build into 6 of our CAIs.   Our contractors are currently working on several more CAIs and we look forward to completing work at these locations soon.

Points of Presence (POPs)

                The Sho-Me Mo project is a “middle-mile” project.  The network we are building and the existing network we are granting to this project will be open access to any provider who wants to use it.  In order to make the network available to other providers, we are providing Points of Presence (POPs) where people can access our network.  These POPs are telecommunication shelters which will house equipment and rack space for interconnections with end providers.  Our network is connected to major Telco hotels and Internet hubs in St. Louis and Kansas City.  Through interconnections at our POPs, end providers throughout the state will have access to this bandwidth.  When complete, the project will have ninety POPs.  We are currently deploying fifteen new telecommunication shelters.  Sho-Me has currently placed 14 of these facilities and hope to have the 15^th operational early next year.

Future

                The Sho-Me Mo project is moving forward and we continue to work on the remainder of Phase I construction.  The second and third phase will continue on as planned in 2012 and 2013.  One way to keep up with continued progress is by signing up for our weekly newsletter.  To sign up, please click here.  As always, you are more than welcome to pose questions to us on the “Contact Us” page, here on the website, or by emailing marketing@shometech.com.

Please contact Cindy Evans (cevans@shometech.com)  if you have questions or concerns prior to filing. Upon completion of filing please make sure to notify Cindy that your filing has been posted.

Video Courtesy of Gary Hamilton, Sho-Me Technologies

In our last article, we explained that Sho-Me Technologies has a presence in some of the largest carrier hotels in the state of Missouri.  In this article, we’ll explain a little about why that’s important.

• Access to other carrier networks.  While Sho-Me’s fiber optic network is the optimal choice for businesses located in south central Missouri, many companies have locations that are outside of our footprint, possibly even in another state.  Sho-Me’s presence in these carrier hotels gives us access to other carriers who may have network facilities in those areas.  This allows us to connect with the other carrier, hand the circuit to them, and have them deliver the circuit to the final destination. 
• Access to Internet providers.  Several Internet Service Providers are located in carrier hotels.  Sho-Me is able to connect with these providers and bring their Internet to your business.  This allows your business to contract directly with a Tier 1 or Tier 2 provider and have that bandwidth delivered over Sho-Me’s reliable fiber network.

These connections aren’t just happening at large carrier hotels; they happen in many places across Missouri.  Each connection opens a door to a larger area of the state or the country that can be reached by another carrier.  Sho-Me Technologies’ ability to connect with other carriers and providers allows us to better serve your business with more options.  Contact us today if you have any questions about how we can help your business connect with locations that are outside of Sho-Me Technologies’ service territory.