People across the state will benefit from the 50,000 megabytes per second. It means more information traveling at a faster speed and education could stand to benefit from that.
If 50,000 Mbps means nothing to you, maybe this will.
“We'll expand majors in undergraduate school, masters programs, Ph.D. programs, and it’s best viewed as economic activity in this state,” Board of Regents' Harvey Jewett said
Among places connected by the South Dakota REED network will be the state's major universities. Those universities are trying to improve graduate programs and research, and this network is something they need.
“In a research project that generates huge amounts of data you just have to have this,” Jewett said.
It would also connect the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake with researchers from major universities who have visited that facility. Jewett says this network will make this state more attractive to others who are interested in research.
“It puts us in a whole new opportunity of reaching out and bringing disciplines into this state,” Jewett said.
The start-up cost is $11,768,711. The Great Plains Foundation is covering $8,000,000. The remaining cost comes from general funds available to the Board of Regents.
