Saskatchewan First Nation School Connectivity Upgrades

18 January, 2005 by fnsnews

High-speed connectivity is now available in all of Saskatchewan’s First Nations schools, thanks to the efforts of KCDC’s First Nations SchoolNet (FNS) technicians and a deal between FNS and the provincial wide-area network (WAN) known as CommunityNet.

When CommunityNet was first established in 1999-2000 as a way for schools, government offices and the health sector to get prioritized, hacker-free high-speed Internet access, only the 193 largest communities in the province were connected. This left out approximately 200 schools, including more than 80 First Nations schools, which were limited to one-way satellite systems (still requiring dial-up connections) as a way of getting on the Internet.

As a result, Internet access from these schools was very slow, and it was impossible to try anything like video-conferencing, which requires a constant fast connection. As well, their use wasn’t regulated the way access on the WAN is, so they had to wait their turn with thousands of home users, and there were time limits on usage. The schools were growing more and more frustrated that the service wasn’t meeting their needs.

Fortunately KCDC, through the FNS program, was in a position to intervene. In early 2004, KCDC negotiated a deal whereby monies from Industry Canada (the federal department that funds FNS) and the provincial Department of Learning were given to the Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN) for the establishment of a network satellite hub tying the unserviced locations into CommunityNet. The task of installing the end-point satellite dishes for the First Nations schools fell to Cara Greyeyes, KCDC’s manager for the Alberta-Saskatchewan FNS program, and her team of technicians.

That spring, Greyeyes and her techs made calls to all the Saskatchewan First Nations schools. This was done to assess each individual school’s needs, such as the appropriate satellite mounting hardware.

The satellite installation project was then divided up by region by the KCDC technicians, with Paul Reeves and Mickey Thomson taking on the southern schools, and Terrence McCallum and Brenda Larocque-Hill assigned to the central and northwest region. Greyeyes and colleague Valmore Daigneault were tasked with the northeast installs. Eldon Hill, Amelick Halkett and Andy Ross worked as temporary assistants to help complete the project, and additional help was provided by SCN technicians.

Between July 5 and Dec. 1, the team installed 64 two-way satellite systems, with most of the work done over the summer months. Those completed later were sites that were more geographically remote or in locations that approached the team for help after the project was underway, Greyeyes said.

“It was a very big project, and we worked on it as a team,” said Greyeyes, noting that whenever one group fell behind, the others packed up their equipment and went to help. The team’s tenacity, professionalism and ability to see the job through impressed Greyeyes greatly. “We learned lots,” she said. “I’m very, very proud.”

Randy Johns, General Manager of KCDC adds that all the satellite system installs done in First Nation schools were done by KCDC’s team of First Nation technicians. “KCDC is proud to be contributing not only to better connectivity in the schools, but to employment and skill development of Top notch First Nation technicians,” Johns said.

With the installations complete, the priority has shifted to system maintenance, with the team responding promptly to schools’ calls for assistance through the FNS help line. Monitoring is done on a continual basis from the central office in La Ronge.. “A lot of times we’re calling the school and saying, ‘Is your connection okay?’ before they even call us,” Greyeyes said.

Being on CommunityNet has had numerous advantages for the First Nations schools, noted both Greyeyes and her colleague Bryan Orthner, KCDC’s chief technical officer. For example, schools across the province can connect to one another directly because they are all on the same network. They all deal with the same service provider and the same help line, which makes troubleshooting easier for the FNS team.

With the new equipment in place, “the Internet is always on, and so there’s no (access) delay,” said Orthner. The connection can be active 24 hours a day, and the upload speed is four to eight times what it was with a dial-up connection. The faster connection will allow for school use of video-conferencing technology, and for the locating of web and e-mail servers in the schools themselves rather than in a remote location, which makes servicing easier. It also allows technicians to gain remote access to school networks for easier assistance to the schools.

“We believe that we have helped our schools make a significant step forward in their access to the resources available on the Internet,” said Orthner. “We look forward to seeing the benefits that will flow to the teachers and students from this investment.”

The development of broadband connectivity in Saskatchewan First Nation schools will not stop with the latest deployment of two-way satellite systems, however. KCDC has plans in place to upgrade connectivity to schools as the infrastructure becomes available. In a first step in addition to the satellite system deployment this year, KCDC through the First Nation Schoolnet program was able to provide Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections to Communitynet for 14 schools that were in close proximity to existing terrestrial loops. Next year, 25 additional schools will be switched to DSL connections as a result of the Northern Broadband Project in Northern Saskatchewan.

Further in the future, more schools will be switched over to broadband terrestrial and wireless connectivity as Sask. Tel rolls out infrastructure in the province. The overall plan is to provide First Nation Schools with the connectivity required to run high bandwidth e-learning applications. The result will be better served First Nation schools and more high quality learning experiences for First Nation youth.

Picture shown is of Wahpeton Dakota School Satellite install August 5, 2004