The Internet became even more critical for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, it was teachers’ only form of communication with students. And because social distancing plays such a vital role in preventing the spread of the virus, it also became a means of keeping teachers, students, and their families safe.

In order to ensure that all North Dakota students could participate in online school during the pandemic, districts first needed to understand where the need for Internet access lay. Working with local broadband providers and the North Dakota Information Technology department, Baesler’s team learned that student addresses were not protected information and could therefore be used to determine whether or not they had access to broadband. By overlaying student addresses with broadband customer addresses, they learned that a majority of students, approximately 70 percent, already had robust broadband access within their homes. 

Next, it was a matter of delivering broadband to that last 30 percent—and quickly. Realizing the importance of keeping students connected during the pandemic, the 15 rural broadband providers that form the Broadband Association of North Dakota (BAND) went to work immediately. 

“Virtually all of the areas had fiber running by those home addresses,” said David Crothers, Executive Director of BAND. “It was just a matter of getting the equipment in the door and hooked up for those students in unconnected homes. So we were able to do that very, very quickly. And that’s how we ended up with over 2,100 students online who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to participate in their education.”

Almost 25 years ago, the member companies that form BAND joined together to create the Dakota Carrier Network (DCN) in order to invest in a fiber backbone that spans the entire state. Those companies knew that they could get farther together, and so far, they have laid more than 42,000 miles of fiber across the state of North Dakota. 

Because of that existing fiber infrastructure, a process that normally would have taken months was completed in just days. When the pandemic hit, North Dakota schools did not need to build a new system to get broadband to students; instead, they were able to dedicate their energy to deploying a system that was already in place.

“We had that infrastructure, that symbiotic relationship before COVID-19 ever hit. And so we were able to join up as one and funnel all this traffic onto that network,” Crothers said. “We were fully prepared to go, but that’s a debt of gratitude that we owe to the directors and management of these local companies that were doing it a quarter of a century ago. And it’s worked out just perfectly for us and the people in North Dakota.”

Starion Bank and DCN have a longstanding relationship rooted in collaboration and innovation. Founded in 1996, DCN is owned by 14 independent rural broadband companies (all of which are also BAND members) and was created to help support the local broadband companies and statewide enterprises. When Starion became DCN’s first commercial customer in 1997, the only way the bank could communicate with its more rural branches in Oakes and Ellendale was through copper lines laid by DCN owners.

And as technology has evolved, so has the relationship between these two growing companies. Over the past six years, DCN and its member owners have connected every single one of Starion’s 16 branches, even as far as Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, to their extensive fiber optic backbone.

As they have so many times in the past, DCN stepped up this spring to ensure that their customer, and their customer’s customers, stayed connected.

“At DCN, our main priority is keeping our customers connected,” said Seth Arndorfer, CEO of DCN. “During COVID-19. that connection has been more important than ever before.”

In less than a week, DCN was able to increase Starion’s Internet speed from 200Mbps to 500Mbps—so that neither employees nor customers would experience congestion due to the pandemic.

“Just imagine how frustrating it would have been to be in an isolation or a quarantine environment and not have the connectivity,” Seth said. “Starion’s financial viability would have been impacted, their ability to service their customers would have been impacted, and the ability of their employees’ students to receive a quality education during the COVID pandemic would have all been impacted very greatly.”

This increase in speed has allowed Starion employees to work safely from home for the duration of the pandemic and provide their customers with the quality of service they have come to expect. Most importantly, it has given them peace of mind.

“With our COVID response, we had a lot of other things going on that we had to worry about,” Kevins said. “And with DCN providing the extra bandwidth, we didn’t have to worry about that. It just gives us a little bit more comfort level and security on not having issues with the number of people working from home.”