UETN's History

$100,000 grant awarded to U of U to explore education use of closed circuit TV. The grant helps fund the establishment of KUED.

KUED-TV (Utah Educational TV) signs on the air.

KUER-FM (Utah Educational Radio) signs on the air.

SETOC (State Educational Telecom Operations Center) established.

EDNET analog system for interactive video conferencing established.

KULC-TV (Utah's Learning Channel) transfers ownership from Weber State University in Ogden to Utah State Board of Regents and signs on the air.

SETOC becomes the Utah Education Network (UEN).

Utah Instructional Television Guide starts as 245-page document.

UEN, KULC, EDNET and KUER move into the new Eccles Broadcast Center (EBC).

UtahLINK established as UEN’s data network and teacher training entity.

Statewide Pioneer Online Library (currently Utah's Online Library) established. First online lesson plan posted on UtahLINK.

EDNET, KULC, UtahLINK merge to single UEN brand and reorganized leadership structure focused on Content, Technology, and Support.

my.uen portal for educators established.

EBC remodeled and expanded from 60,000 to 100,000 square feet.

As education partner for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, UEN receives international recognition, mentors other Olympic cities.

Qwest (formerly US West, now CenturyLink) donates $4,000,000 of CVDS equipment to make GEOMAX upgrade possible.

KULC-TV changes call letters to KUEN-TV and is branded as UEN-TV.

Phase 1 of GEOMAX project started to establish UEN's 1-Gbps Ethernet backbone to span the state from Logan to St. George.

Phase 2 of Geomax Project adds 155 additional sites.

KUEN awarded Partnership for a National of Learners grant from CPB and IMLS for Water Wise Utah collaborative project. 

Utah Digital TV consortium is formed with KUEN, KUED and KBYU along with Utah commercial TV stations.

Phase 3 of Geomax Project adds 85 more sites.

Utah legislators appropriate $650,000 to provide Learning Management System (LMS) for higher education.

All former satellite receive sites are converted to fiber-optic or microwave.

KUED and KUEN convert to digital broadcasting.

Plans are approved to increase portions of the 1-Gbps backbone to 10-Gbps.

UEN applies for $13 million grant from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. (BTOP).

10-Gbps circuits are extended from Logan to Richfield Data Center.

KUEN dedicates spectrum to KUER public radio to relay signal across Utah

MHz Worldview premieres as KUEN’s second digital television station.

E-rate reimbursements exceed $11-million annually.

$13-million BTOP grant is awarded to UEN.

National Science Foundation (NSF) funds CI-WATER research project.

BTOP project connects 70 elementary schools and 18 charter schools.

Portions of the UEN backbone are upgraded to 10-Gbps.

National Science Foundation (NSF) funds iUTAH EPSCoR research project.

10-Gbps Ethernet is extended to St. George.

100-Gbps Metro Fiber Ring established.

BTOP project is completed with faster connections for 130 community anchor sites including 1-Gbps connections for 62 elementary schools.

Multiple UEN servers move to Downtown Data Center (in downtown Salt Lake City).

Utah legislators draft a bill (HB92) to combine UEN with UTN (Utah Telehealth Network).

FNX (First Nations Experience) premieres as KUEN’s third digital television station.

KUEN receives CPB American Graduate 2 grant.

HB92 passes and UTN moves to the Eccles Broadcast Center and process of merging begins.

Network expands to 1,412 sites and trains 14,300 Utah teachers.

Steve Hess, who directed the founding of SETOC and UEN, is appointed CIO of the University of Utah and the Utah System of Higher Education. The CIO’s portfolio includes UEN.

Utah Legislators approve HB-222 creating the Utah Digital Learning Task Force. UETN advises the task force as it outlines and completes Utah's Master Plan: Essential Elements for Technology Powered Learning.

SB-222 also asks UETN to conduct statewide inventory and engineering studies of technology in Utah school districts and charter schools. The studies are completed and reported to legislators.

10 Gbps circuit extended to Blanding Utah

Sustained Internet traffic exceeds 40 Gbps for the first time (5+ fold growth in three years)

Overall bandwidth utilization increased to 76.03 Gbps with 46 percent used by Public Education, 43% used by Higher Education and 11% for other traffic.

2016 saw a 59% growth in the usage of Utah’s Online Library. The Network also logged 7,804,693 unique visits to uen.org. The network delivered Higher Education Courses to 196,247 students via UETN’s Learning Management System.

In partnerships with the Utah State Board of Education, UETN continued to support Utah’s Digital Teaching and Learning Qualifying Grant Program for Local Education Agencies (LEAs). UETN and USBE held multiple 2-day bootcamp training sessions for LEA leaders starting in late September. Plans from 66 LEAs have been approved for the 2017 Fiscal Year.

UETN and multiple other technology innovators provided leadership and technical support for the Super Computing 2016 (SC16) conference held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Specifically UETN help plan and execute SCInet, the largest, fastest computer network in the world during its temporary existence in November.

House Concurrent Resolution recognizing 50th Anniversary Public Broadcasting Act.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert officiated as UETN unveiled an expanded and remodeled Operations Center, the management nucleus that supplies network, application and support services statewide. The ribbon-cutting event on November 9, 2017 showcased new, cutting edge, real-time network visualization tools.

Overall bandwidth utilization increased to 79.1 Gbps with 45 percent used by Public Education, 32.9% used by Higher Education and 14% for other traffic. The network served more than 863,000 students from pre-K and public ed through technical and higher education. It also served more than 73,000 educators and staff throughout the state of Utah.

UETN connected a majority of education and health care Institutions at 100 Mbps and most a 1 Gbps. Interactive Video Conferencing connected more than 1100 Utah locations with about 350 daily educational events including courses and meetings. UETN’s eMedia service included 20,000 digital videos, images and documents drawing more than 254,000 visits.

January - March

• UETN expands reach with support of Utah Legislature.
• UtahFutures Impact Evaluation published, shows 89% of users gain needed career advice.
• CPB announces UETN as an American Graduate: Getting to Work station.
• EDScoop highlights Utah’s Open Educational Resources (OER) collection, hosted in eMedia. • Community survey for carriage of NHK World-Japan begins.
• UETN selects Blackboard Ally to make online courses ADA accessible across Utah System of Higher Education.
• UETN co-sponsors the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) statewide conference for educators.

April - June

• UtahFutures American Graduate begins production of videos featuring students from Utah System of Technical Colleges.
• “Vision of Virtue,” one of UETN’s many original productions for Art Connection, airs nationally.
• UEN.org spotlights curriculum related to Martha Hughes Cannon statue installation in US Capitol.
• UETN expands reach of Loveland Living Planet Aquarium video series via broadcast and eMedia.
• The UETN Technical Summit convenes leaders in public education, postsecondary education, healthcare and industry.
• UtahFutures Hour airs each weeknight on UEN-TV.

July - September

• UETN and the Friday Institute host Leading Schools Summit for principals as part of the Leadership in Blended and Digital Learning Program.
• UtahFutures American Graduate celebrates Utah’s Year of Technical Education with broadcast and events statewide.
• UETN launches Homeroom, a new bi-monthly podcast for educators.
• UETN and partner stations begin converting Utah’s 500+ translators for system-wide spectrum repack project.
• Media team produces segment on POWDERRENEW 5G wireless networking project for SciTech Now.
• UETN adds 18 new Interactive Video Conferencing sites in area schools.

October – December

• UETN hosts the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRS) conference in Salt Lake City.
• eMedia releases new video collection of 20,000 assets and new website capabilities.
• UETN provided management, communication and technical support for SC18, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analyis in Dallas, Texas.
• Utah Canvas Summit, co-hosted by UETN, helps schools implement new LMS for learning.
• Statewide broadcast of NHK World-Japan on Channel 9.4 launches.
• UtahFutures American Graduate brings career education resources to rural communities with the Roadtrip Nation Roadshow.
• Bright by Text service begins featuring Preschool Pioneer (currently Preschool Path) for parents and caregivers nationwide.

UETN upgraded 25 sites to higher capacity internet circuits and increased broadband service to 652,348 K-12 students at 1,113 schools. Overall bandwidth increased to 115.5 Gbps with 49% used by Public Education, 36% used by Higher Education and 15% for other traffic.

The network became one of only eleven Certified Authorized Providers of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Certification. The training focuses on the use of education technology in meaningful and transformative ways.

Utah’s Digital Teaching and Learning initiative assists K-12 organizations in using technology to enhance learning outcomes through trainings, wireless access points and software applications. The program is a collaborative effort between UETN, the Utah State Board of Education, local schools and the Utah State Legislature. In 2019, the third comprehensive, statewide inventory of education technology showed a marked increase network use by K-12 students.

Spike 150, Utah’s celebration of the 150-year anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, engaged more than 20,000 participants in events across the state. As a Spike 150 partner, UEN-TV (KUEN) aired the keynote event held on May 10 at Promontory Summit, including the world premiere of As One. The network curated educational materials and created an instructional video on using augmented reality to teach the history of the transcontinental railroad.

The network’s UtahFutures American Graduate project connected thousands of youth and the people who guide them with Utah’s career and technical education resources. Working with nearly twenty partners, UEN produced content and facilitated community engagement to strengthen communications around high-wage, in-demand careers and pathways that do not require a college degree.

UETN also played a leading role in national conferences to foster the exchange of ideas that fuels innovation. Events included the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) 2019 Conference and CPB Thought Leader Forum for public media, CS for All for computer science educators and SC19, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis held in Denver, Colorado.

UETN was a major sponsor of the UCET Conference (Utah Coalition for Educational Technology. In response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, the network hosted a 100% online conference of the Northeast Regional Telehealth Resource Center. The meeting drew more than 1,100 attendees from throughout the nation. UETN also created the Learn at Home website which curated multiple online resources for students, educators and parents.