ELKHART, Ind. – ITR Concession Company (ITRCC), the operator of the Indiana Toll Road, has entered into an agreement with Surf Broadband, LLC, a premier broadband provider in northwest Indiana, to enable virtual learning for more than 7,000 Portage Township Schools (PTS) students. As part of the arrangement, ITRCC granted Surf Broadband free access to the Toll Road's private fiber network in August as an interim solution to support PTS's immediate virtual learning needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the public health emergency, PTS has moved to a virtual learning environment for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year. To meet the demand for greater bandwidth and network capacity requirements, David Lesich, PTS Director of Instructional Technology and Data Services, turned to Surf Broadband to help identify a solution.
Aware of ITRCC's newly constructed fiber network in Northern Indiana, Surf Broadband President Gene Crusie worked with ITRCC to deliver network connectivity at a rapid pace for the start of the school year.
ITRCC CEO Nic Barr said that ITRCC was eager to help as part of an ongoing commitment to supporting local school communities and students along the Toll Road corridor. In early 2020, the Toll Road donated over $100,000 towards school weekend food distribution programs, providing meals for students who did not have access to school lunches during the COVID-19 crisis.
Surf Broadband will transition connectivity to the Toll Road commercial fiber network when construction is completed and it comes online later this year.
