How RENs Provide Broadband Services for Municipal Agencies

By John Hennessey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and OneNet

Did you know that OneNet can serve your municipal agencies? Many people don’t realize that as Oklahoma’s research and education network, we can also serve government agencies at all levels. This includes city halls, courthouses, fire stations, police stations, 911 centers and city libraries.

OneNet has a long history of serving municipal government agencies. A few long-time subscribers include the cities of Ardmore, Edmond and Lawton, where we’ve partnered with their community leaders and IT departments to deliver service to city buildings.

There are many reasons a municipal agency should consider a research and education network for internet services. Primarily, OneNet can assist your city with affordable, high-speed connectivity. The benefits multiple from there.

Benefits of Research and Education Networks

• Affordable, high-speed connectivity options thanks to our partnerships with approximately 30 private telecommunications providers across the state
• Fiber-optic broadband services that provide high-quality, robust, reliable connectivity
• Connectivity options for all 77 Oklahoma counties
• MPLS services at no additional cost, which allows cities to connect multiple sites seamlessly
• DDoS attack mitigation at no additional cost, helping keep your city networks safe from Distributed Denial of Service attacks
• Engineering expertise from our network and systems engineers who are available to assist your city with your network
• Affordable datacenter services that support disaster recovery, virtual infrastructure and backup needs
• 24x7x365 subscriber support that allows you to talk with an actual support person at any time

Oklahoma Community Anchor Network

In addition to these benefits, OneNet provides 10 and 100Gbps middle-mile connectivity to 35 Oklahoma counties through the Oklahoma Community Anchor Network. OCAN is a grant-funded network with 1,100 miles of infrastructure that supports community anchor institutions located along the route. OCAN helps OneNet deliver high-speed services to communities in these 35 counties. Learn more about how OCAN can help your community on our For Oklahoma Citizens page.

OneNet’s mission is to deliver high-speed, affordable connectivity and technology solutions to research, education, health care and government institutions. We strive to help you fulfill your own mission of providing government and safety services to your community. We would enjoy starting a conversation with you about your city services. Email us at info@onenet.net to get started!

“Good, stable connectivity is required for emergency calls and map location. OneNet provides stable, good high-speed internet service.” – Lanette Coppedge, Johnston County 911 Coordinator

Learn more about how research and education networks power our nation’s most important work through The Quilt’s Value of a REN.