Visible results: Rural Virginia carrier delivers distance learning

A small Virginia carrier has adopted an enterprise-focused solution to build an interactive video network for local schools.

Shenandoah Telephone Co., Edinburg, Va., is using a combination of 3Com and AG Communications hardware and software to deliver video over asynchronous transfer mode. The distance learning network was conceived four years ago as an analog video network and since has evolved to incorporate ATM.

The new setup incorporates AG's Atium Via 188 and Atium Time and Atium View software and 3Com's CoreBuilder 7000 ATM switch. The Via 188 sends MPEG 2 video in point-to-point or point-to-multipoint configurations over ATM networks, and the AG software controls videoconference setups (see figure). Shenandoah links six Via 188s over an ATM infrastructure using 3Com's CoreBuilder 7000.

The distance learning network connects three high schools and one community college, said Shenandoah President Christopher French.

"We're in a somewhat rural area, and we have a county school system with three separate high schools," French said. "The area had gone through some debate about a combined high school. We saw the benefits of better course offerings, but people didn't want to lose the individualities of the schools."

The distance learning network was established to allow the schools to offer courses that they couldn't individually support with enrollment.

The 3Com/AG solution, which the companies are now joint marketing, is best suited for enterprise applications, particularly private educational and hospital networks, said Richard Forberg, ATM LAN/MAN solutions director for 3Com. The MPEG 2/ATM combination is still more expensive than traditional videoconferencing services, he said.

Shenandoah's application points to other possibilities, however, such as long-distance connections between a company's headquarters and remote operations centers. Tapping into a statewide ATM network is also a possibility. But such ideas weren't the driving force behind the network.

"We didn't do it for revenue," French said. "Our intent is to educate ourselves [about new technology]. We did it primarily as a public service."