June 30, 2003
BIBB COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION PARTNERS WITH Cox Business TO ENHANCE SCHOOL SYSTEM’S TECHNOLOGY

MACON, GA (July 2, 2003) - The Bibb County Board of Education (BOE) has partnered with Cox Business to deploy a Wide Area Network (WAN) for the Bibb County Public School system. The five-year partnership includes a fiber connection to 49 Bibb County elementary, middle and high schools, the Teen Parent Center, downtown administrative office, Hutchings Career Center and other BOE facilities.

Survey results indicated that the majority of teleworkers (75%) are remote teleworkers who check their e-mail and do work outside the office under less structured teleworking arrangements while 25% are dedicated teleworkers working a committed work schedule from a home office with equipment provided by their employer. Although most Americans don’t typically describe themselves as teleworkers, they are reaping the benefits of this increasingly flexible lifestyle. Sixty one percent of the individuals surveyed cite more time with family and helping the environment (50%) among the benefits of teleworking.

By implementing a Wide Area Network (WAN), all BOE facilities and schools will be connected, allowing students, educators and administrators to tap into the Internet for research, live video and broadband learning applications. Each site will receive a dedicated fiber circuit offering at speeds ranging from 2 – 100 megabits per second, making extensive technological resources more readily available system-wide.

The BOE has had a WAN since 1998, "but with Cox, we’re getting six times the capacity and six times the speed we had before," said Julie Christopher, BOE Technology Director. "Now we can disseminate a lot more information throughout the system at much greater speeds."

By significantly increasing its bandwidth, the BOE is fulfilling its mission to provide a high quality education for all Bibb County students in a safe and comfortable environment, by making use of all human and technological resources in preparing graduates for post high school objectives.

With recent BOE budget cuts however, some may see such technological advancements as untimely.

Not so, says Christopher.

While competing companies were signaling a monthly price increase of $14,000, "Cox agreed to significantly upgrade our infrastructure for not a penny more than we currently pay. Because of Cox, we’re getting a whole lot more."

The BOE is further seeking to remain fiscally responsible through its eligibility to receive a 74 percent savings made available through E-rate reimbursement.

The E-rate is one of four support mechanisms funded through a Universal Service fee charged to companies that provide interstate and/or international telecommunications services. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) administers the Universal Service Fund at the direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). USAC’s Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) administers the E-rate fund.

The E-rate program has an annual budget of $2.25 billion and provides discounts to assist most schools and libraries to obtain affordable Telecommunications Services and Internet access. Discounts range from 20% to 90% of the costs of eligible services, depending on the level of poverty and the urban/rural status of the populations served. The discount percentage for an individual school is based on the percent of the student population eligible for the National School Lunch Program. The discount percentage for an entire district is calculated by the weighted average of the individual schools within the district.

Cox Business will support the Board of Education with 24-hour service, as well as personalized web-based tracking reports to record each site’s usage for school system officials. The implemented system is structured to meet the changing needs of the BOE due to system growth and technological advancements.

"Cox Business is excited about the opportunity to provide an enhanced, cost-efficient wide area network service to the Bibb County Board of Education," said Dan Slagle, CBS Director of Commercial Services. "The network solution provided by Cox will allow for greater bandwidth delivery to all 49 BOE locations while providing a very high degree of reliability. Cox Business is proud to have the Bibb Board of Education as one of our premier customers."

About Cox Business

Cox Business, LLC is an affiliate of Atlanta-based Cox Communications, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the nation’s fifth largest broadband communications company. A full-service, facilities-based provider of telecommunications solutions, Cox Business Services serves home offices; small, medium and large businesses; school districts; and hospitality, government and military properties across the nation. Cox offers high-speed Internet services; switched voice services and long-distance; video conferencing; web hosting; collocation and dedicated voice, data and video transport services. More information can be accessed on the Internet at www.coxbusiness.com.