A coalition of higher education institutions in Florida is leading the pursuit of $103 million in federal money to expand broadband services to 55 state and independent colleges and 26 Florida public broadcasting stations.
The effort to install a network that lets students, educators and others near colleges communicate at high speed is being led by the Florida State College System and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida. They are joined by the Florida Public Broadcasting System.
The objective here is to unify higher education all on the same network, said Willis J. Holcombe, chancellor of Florida State Colleges.
The new system would bring broadband to the state colleges and independent colleges and universities that lack it, which is most of them. The system would allow for faster file sharing between colleges, leading to more efficient research between institutions, said Melanie Hicks, director of research for the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida.
The coalition, which names the new system Florida SmartNet, is endeavoring to obtain a grant from the federal stimulus-funded Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, administered by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications Information Administration.
The grant, 30 percent of which is being matched by the Florida applicants, will expand the Florida LambdaRail research and education high-speed network to all but one of the independent colleges in the coalition and all of the state community colleges by 2012. The application was, along with several others, given the highest preference in the second round of judging by the governors office last week, and it now moves onto the federal governments selection process. The winner of the grant money will be chosen by Sept. 30.
The grant would cover all the costs of the new system, and it would allow all the Florida Public Broadcasting Stations to hook up. In addition, nearby businesses and government agencies would be able to use the system, Holcombe said, and some entities have already expressed an interest.
The broadband connection will be especially useful for hospitals and libraries, he said. The business model for LambdaRail could be reorganized if the group gets the grant, but Holcombe didn't know how much college neighbors will be charged.
