Discussion of the NH Erate Consortium Possibility

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Discussion of the NH Erate Consortium Possibilit
y

• Cathy Higgins and Sonja Gonzalez
• Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference 2008

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Background

• Aggregated purchases of this nature have been
  successful in other states
• Reducing costs of services 
• Improving value of services
• Allowing for increased services through Erate
  funding
• See ENA exhibitors at conference are one example

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Background

• Erate applications are time consuming
• Many districts hire a service to write the grant
  for them
• Many districts don't apply for the monies they
  are entitled
• ISP services are expensive, even for minimal
  bandwidth

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Background

• Aggregated service
• Likely that services would be brokered, allowing
  for multiple service providers across the state
• Defined service levels to protect investment

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Consortium work to date

• Project blog
• http//www.nheon.org/oetb/
• Click on Erate in the menu bar 
• Exploring possible lead entities to file (state
  vs district or other organization)

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Consortium work to date

• Project path
• Find a dozen or so districts interested in the
  project
• Create an advisory board
• Write a baseline RFP
• Submit in the 2009-2010 Erate timeframe

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Consortium work to date

• Concerns
• Changing ISP
• Not getting good services and/or support
• Can't beat the current rate
• Don't want all the features offered

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In a Perfect Implementation

• Districts who participate are allowed a choice of
  going on their own or participating in the
  aggregate purchase
• The Consortium purchase allows for more services
  and/or reduced rates for ISP and possible other
  services
• The Consortium reduces paperwork so that more
  districts participate in Erate in NH and improve
  services to their students

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Discussion

• What are your thoughts?
• Concerns
• Challenges
• Participation

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Thinking Beyond Erate

• Create another avenue of collaboration for
  districts in NH
• Expand offered services that are purchased using
  group buying power

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Contact Information

• Subscribe to the RSS feed for ETNews
• Contact Sonja Gonzalez at 
•          
•         sonjag_at_comcast.net