SDN is in the final planning stages for a new building location that would serve as a disaster recovery center. The building will help ensure that service to SDN’s customers continues, uninterrupted, even in the event of a major emergency. In addition, the $10 million technology center will have rental space for data center storage and co-location available to other companies.
Click here to read the full article in the Sioux Falls Business Journal.
Julie Hoyer
Marketing Specialist
As previous blog posts have discussed, SDN is growing. As part of that growth plan, SDN is laying the ground work for a $10 million building project at the northeast corner of 60th Street North and La Mesa Drive.
The new building would serve as a second operating location for protecting SDN’s network as well as a high-tech office space where other businesses could co-locate network equipment.
Click here to read the full article in the Sioux Falls Business Journal.
Technology solutions continue to evolve, providing ever-expanded opportunities for businesses. 2010 has been no exception and industry leaders, like Cisco, Extreme Networks and VMWare, are busy announcing “next-generation” solutions for businesses.
· Cisco now offers an application to access WebEx online meetings from smartphones and the iPad. Cisco is also expanding its portfolio of small business technology solutions. New technology includes energy-efficient, unmanaged switches and a wireless virtual private network (VPN) firewall.
o http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/index.html
· At Interop Las Vegas, Extreme Networks launched the new VIM440 module for the Summit X650 data center top-of-rack switch. This module enables the box to scale to 40 GigE. The fastest Ethernet connection in datacenters today is 10 GigE.
· VMWare, the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, recently formed a strategic alliance with Salesforce.com to launch VMForce. With VMForce, more than 6 million enterprise Java developers will have an open path to cloud computing. It will enable Java developers to quickly and easily build next-generation enterprise Cloud 2 apps that are instantly social, mobile and collaborative.
o Visit www.vmforce.com for more information.
Be watching for more updates and new product launches in the next few months from other SDN vendor partners.
Julie Hoyer
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications has been telling the story about our “One Common Thread.” It demonstrates how our fiber optic network reaches into eight states—but more importantly, reaches into the lives of almost everyone in South Dakota. We’ve brought you the story of baby Everett in Parkston. His life was saved because of telemedicine technology traveling SDN’s network. We’ve told you about CorTrust Bank in Artesian and how their customers can access their acount from anywhere in the word thanks to SDN’s network. And now, the story of how every school in South Dakota is connected with SDN’s fiber optics. When Estelline High School couldn’t hire a foreign language teacher, an SDN broadband connection brought Aberdeen teachers to them through the DDN distance learning video system.
Have you seen our television commercial about Estelline High School?
If you liked that, and if you liked what you read about being “behind the scenes” at Estelline, you’ll enjoy the extented version of our newest commercial:
Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications
SDN Communications has worked hard, together with our member companies, to connect rural South Dakota. Our Midwest Region offers broadband internet in some of the most remote areas, giving them a better business advantage.
South Dakota’s cooperative and family-owned telephone companies have always delivered the best service to customers. They connected phone service where the big companies wouldn’t go. Now they do the same thing with high-speed Internet. Today you can do business as easily from Buffalo, South Dakota, as you can from Buffalo, New York.
SDN Communications serves over 300 communities in South Dakota alone. We’ve expanded our fiber-optic reach into seven surrounding states which means greater potential for the people we serve.
Click here to read an article from Prairie Business Magazine about how telecommunication companies in the region are working together to expand opportunities for rural areas.
Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications
All schools across South Dakota are already connected with SDN’s fiber optic network. Late in 2009, SDN Communications was awarded a $20 million federal grant in order to boost that fiber optic network to over 300 anchor institutions including those schools, goverment agencies, National Guard locations and more.
Schools like Estelline will see a direct benefit from SDN’s additional fiber capacity. With SDN bringing 10 megabit-per-second Internet access, the school can expand its offering of video distance classes.
Joey Struwe, Estelline’s district network administrator, says, “Obviously, having a teacher stand in front of the classroom and teaching is ideal. That’s what you’d want, but that’s not possible in all situations. We have limited resources and this connectivity just helps us enhance the number of things we can offer our students.”
Click the links below to see how SDN Communications is making a difference for schools across the state:
Click here to read all the details about the $20 million Stimulus Grant on SDN’s blog.
Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications
It takes a lot of people to make a project successful. SDN Communications’ recent federal grant award is no exception. Martin Group, which merged with CHR Solutions in September, played a key role during the application submission process.
Click here to read the news release from CHR.
Ashton Hofer
Marketing Intern
We’re excited to announce that SDN was one of 18 companies chosen nationally to receive a $20 million broadband stimulus grant. Vice President Joe Biden made the announcement in Dawsonville, GA Thursday morning. SDN will be required to do a $5 million match. We will have three years to complete 359 miles of fiber to un-served and underserved areas of South Dakota. The intent is to benefit anchor institutions, such as hospitals, schools, and government offices.
SDN and its owner/member companies will be able to provide 10 Megabit per second service to 219 existing anchor institution customers in rural and underserved areas of the state and connect 305 new anchor institutions.
So, what does that mean to us living in South Dakota? These additional broadband connections will help bridge the digital gap and boost economic development. Rural communities will be better equipped to attract high-tech jobs and talent in the long term, helping them compete on a world-wide scale.
Here are some links to news stories across the nation if you want to read more about how SDN will help connect the state:
PraireBusiness, Grand Forks, ND
Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, IA
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA
Washington Examiner, Washington, DC
Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications
Broadband Properties magazine noted that SDN Communications bucks the trend of scaling back on growth. Click here to see its September issue and click through to pages 16 and 17 for the coverage on SDN’s growth into a regional provider.
Vernon Brown
Marketing Manager
The Sioux Falls Business Journal talked about SDN Communications’ plan for a communications tower on its land northwest of Sioux Falls. Click here to see the full story. The information related to SDN is about halfway through the story.
Vernon Brown
Marketing Manager
