{"id":5389,"date":"2023-09-20T20:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T00:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zayo1.burbledev.com\/?post_type=resources&p=5389"},"modified":"2025-09-23T12:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T18:20:28","slug":"students-in-pinal-county-get-equitable-broadband-access-with-zayo","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/resources\/students-in-pinal-county-get-equitable-broadband-access-with-zayo\/","title":{"rendered":"Students in Pinal County Get Equitable Broadband Access with Zayo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Situated between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona\u2019s two largest cities, Pinal County has seen steady population growth throughout the years. Still, much of the county is considered rural and network growth hasn\u2019t kept pace with the population increase. In a technology-forward era for schools, this connectivity is imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to working with Zayo, some areas of Pinal County had plenty of fiber, but some schools didn\u2019t have any fiber access at all, creating a need for equitable access across the county. When students were sent home with devices during the pandemic, network shortcomings in rural parts of the county disrupted the learning process for some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District leaders in Pinal County recognized the need to deliver equitable learning opportunities to students and tapped into various funding channels to upgrade the district\u2019s network. Today, the county\u2019s future-ready network powers digital learning environments and creates new opportunities for the entire community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBroadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able student, no matter their situation in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve success,\u201d says Jill Broussard, Pinal County School Superintendent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from network shortcomings, Pinal County faced another issue becoming more frequent and disruptive in school districts across the country \u2013 cybersecurity attacks. These attacks put increased pressure on district IT teams already stretched thin. Always seeking to improve, Pinal County\u2019s leaders now focus on proactively safeguarding their students and staff from cyberthreats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Broadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able student, no matter their situation in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve success.<\/p>\nJill Broussard, Pinal County School Superintendent<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Comprehensive Network Solution Designed to Help Students Succeed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal E-rate and matched state funding gave Pinal County the purchasing power it needed to upgrade its network. Pinal County chose Zayo to bring equitable connectivity to students and schools in the county, fortify the network, and bring reliable, affordable voice solutions to select districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating an A+ Network for School Districts and Beyond<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To connect the county, Zayo first deployed more than 320 miles of fiber in the area, delivering a continuous fiber network to all K-12 entities in the county. This build wasn\u2019t easy \u2013 engineers had to traverse through geologically difficult terrain like mountain ranges at times \u2013 but it was vital to enabling the next generation of connectivity in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cZayo fiber has been a critical pathway to connection in the county,\u201d shares Peter Lin, Associate Superintendent of Technology at Pinal County Schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Pinal County\u2019s private dedicated infrastructure provided the foundation for connectivity for community anchor institutions and at-home Internet. 100G Dedicated Internet Access connectivity back to 100G WAN core network enables access to public cloud environments for K-12 and college locations. Pinal County Education Service Agency (ESA) being the single subscriber on this network reduces bandwidth bottlenecks, enabling the same level of connectivity in rural and metro areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of an extensive long-haul fiber network and WAN offering, Zayo built middle-mile fiber connections from town to town and school to school helping connect previously unconnected areas of the county affordably. This provided the foundation for services from Zayo and other ISPs, enhancing the overall infrastructure in Pinal County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future Growth Supported by Better Connectivity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a rural county like Pinal, wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) are critical to at-home connectivity. As a partner to all major carriers and WISPs, Zayo identified towers in need of optimization with the new fiber. Zayo optimized tower locations for WISPs to boost performance for everyone in the county, especially those previously without adequate broadband connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The value of the county\u2019s new fiber extends beyond schools and anchor institutions. As the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas continue to expand into Pinal County, the county has become increasingly attractive to real estate developers, high-tech firms, and data centers \u2013 all organizations in need of high-capacity Internet connectivity \u2013 something that Zayo fiber now provides. Lin speculates about the value of Zayo connectivity, \u201cThe next generation will take us to a level we can\u2019t yet imagine. We have a lot of infrastructure now that other counties don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortifying the Network Against Cyberattacks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cybersecurity is another priority for Pinal County\u2019s technology team. When one of their school districts experienced a DDoS attack, Pinal County\u2019s previous upstream service provider couldn\u2019t handle it. They wanted Pinal County to cough up an additional $80,000 a month to protect against these attacks \u2013 a cost the county couldn\u2019t spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, Zayo\u2019s network solution included upstream DDoS protection, saving the county\u2019s school districts a hefty monthly expense plus the cost of a downed network in the instance of a DDoS attack. This protection has enabled Pinal County to mitigate DDoS threats early in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, thanks to a cybersecurity grant from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security, Pinal County employs additional cybersecurity solutions. Solutions like multi-factor authentication, device management, endpoint security, and security training ensure students\u2019 data is fully secure and the learning process isn\u2019t interrupted by a breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zayo fiber has been a critical pathway to connection in the county.<\/p>\nPeter Lin, Associate Superintendent of Technology at Pinal County School<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast, Flexible Unified Communications<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Zayo provides hosted voice services to two districts in the county, enabling the districts to save money while enjoying access to a robust cloud PBX feature set, 24\/7 live customer support, and enterprise-level service quality and reliability. The districts can now tap into this solution thanks to increased bandwidth from Zayo. Previously, the aging infrastructure meant that VoIP had to be done with less performant MPLS links. Their previous provider was quoting ten times the cost for the service that Zayo now offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zayo Difference<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe difference between the network now and before is night and day,\u201d Lin tells us, \u201cThe network is more stable and staff, students, and parents have taken notice.\u201d Before, Pinal County\u2019s rural districts were working with dated infrastructure and students lacked the capacity to use their digital learning tools and applications. As a result, these rural school districts depended on traditional school materials like textbooks. Now, teachers have more flexibility in creating their own curriculum using resources on the Internet and don\u2019t have to spend their budgets on hard-copy textbooks. \u201cWith broadband access, we can revolutionize access to education, develop economic empowerment, and generate the delivery of critical human needs,\u201d shares Lin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why Pinal County Schools Chose Zayo<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Equitable broadband access<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Students in rural areas can access the Internet and take advantage of online resources at home and in the classroom<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Supporting future growth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Capacity on Zayo\u2019s long-haul network throughout the county is attractive to high-tech firms and others eyeing the region for innovation in years to come<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Affordable, enhanced cybersecurity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Upstream DDoS protection is included in Dedicated Internet Access<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Carrier partnerships<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Zayo works with all of the major carriers and is the preferred partner to more than 850 additional carrier customers<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out how the Pinal County school district leverages Zayo networking solutions to create an equitable learning environment at home and in the classroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5390,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","resource-post-excerpt":"Find out how the Pinal County school district leverages Zayo networking solutions to create an equitable learning environment at home and in the classroom.","footnotes":""},"resource-topics":[154],"displayed":[105],"resources-categories":[43],"industry":[22],"services-amp-solutions":[31],"class_list":["post-5389","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource-topics-closing-the-digital-divide","displayed-thought-leadership","resources-categories-case-study","industry-education","services-amp-solutions-fiber-transport-services"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/5389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/5389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18601,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/5389\/revisions\/18601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topics?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"displayed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"resources-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources-categories?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"services-amp-solutions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services-amp-solutions?post=5389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}