Your school changes. Technology changes. Providers change. Pricing changes. Is your phone and internet keeping up?

Most schools don’t spend much time thinking about telecom when it’s working.

The phones work. The internet works. The bills get paid.

But “still working” and “still right” aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Because while your phone and internet solution may stay largely the same, almost everything around it keeps changing.

Your school changes. Technology changes. Providers change. Pricing changes.

Over time, the solution that was right for your school can quietly become the wrong one.

That’s Telecom Drift.

And for independent schools, where technology is increasingly woven into everything from classroom instruction and administration to security and communications, it pays to keep up.

Here are four changes every school should be watching.

1. Your School Changes

Think about how different your school may be today from when your current phone and internet solution was put in place.

Enrollment may have changed. Staff may have grown. Buildings may have been added or renovated. The way faculty and administrators work may have changed. Your dependence on cloud-based applications may have increased. Your expectations for mobility, reliability and redundancy may be very different.

And some of the things you once assumed you needed may no longer make sense.

We saw this firsthand when TeleSimplicity partnered with Charlotte Latin School to evaluate the future of its communications system.

The school had relied on an on-premise Cisco phone system for years. But as the system approached end of life, we worked with the school’s IT leadership to step back and ask a bigger question.

It wasn’t simply:

What should we replace our Cisco system with?

The better question was:

What does our school actually need now?

That led to questions such as which faculty and staff still needed physical handsets, who could work more effectively with desktop or mobile applications, how a new system should interact with the school’s existing paging system, and how communications should work across a large campus.

The school had changed.

So simply replacing the old solution with a newer version of the same thing wasn’t necessarily the right answer.

2. Technology Changes

The technology available to schools has changed dramatically—and it keeps changing.

Cloud-based phone systems. Mobile and desktop applications. Unified communications. Better network redundancy. New security requirements. New ways for faculty, staff, parents and administrators to communicate.

And underneath all of it, schools are becoming increasingly connected.

FCC data shows that the percentage of students at schools with at least 1 Mbps of internet bandwidth per student increased from 32% in 2021 to 52% in 2025—a roughly 63% increase in just four years.

More bandwidth isn’t really the point.

What schools are able—and expected—to do with their connectivity keeps changing.

The 2026 State of EdTech report from CoSN makes the same larger point. Today’s education technology leaders aren’t simply maintaining infrastructure. They’re supporting instruction, protecting data, enabling innovation and helping manage technology across school operations.

The right technology solution five or ten years ago isn’t automatically the right technology solution today.

3. Providers Change

The provider marketplace doesn’t stand still either.

New providers enter the market. Existing providers add capabilities. Technologies mature. Companies merge and acquire one another. A provider that wasn’t a serious option when you last evaluated your telecom may be a very good option today.

The problem is that most school leaders don’t have the time—or the reason—to continuously follow the telecom marketplace.

That’s not your job.

It’s ours.

As an independent telecom broker, TeleSimplicity keeps up with the provider landscape, compares options and helps schools understand which solutions deserve a closer look—and which don’t.

At The Schenck School in Atlanta, the school felt it was paying too much for its existing phone service.

TeleSimplicity helped evaluate competing providers, ultimately identifying Zoom Phone as a better fit. But our involvement didn’t end with the recommendation. We participated in implementation calls and helped the school navigate the transition to its new system.

Finding the right provider is one thing. Having someone help you make the change is another.

[JOHN: Confirm school-name permission and the details of the Zoom Phone transition; potential testimonial from Brandon.]

Knowing what’s changed in the provider marketplace can change the decision.

4. Pricing Changes

Telecom pricing has a way of changing quietly.

Contracts renew. Promotions expire. Fees change. Services get added. Old services stay on bills long after they’re useful. And yes, mistakes are made.

At Mount Paran Christian School, TeleSimplicity helped the school revisit its telecom costs as existing agreements came up for renewal.

Rather than automatically recommending a new provider, TeleSimplicity negotiated with one of the school’s existing providers and reduced its costs by approximately 20–25%.

When another internet agreement approached renewal, we identified special pricing available to schools through Comcast that made a different solution more attractive.

And the work continues. As other agreements come up for renewal, John continues evaluating options and negotiating on the school’s behalf.

The point isn’t simply to get a good price once. It’s to make sure you’re still getting the right price as things change.

[JOHN: Confirm the 20–25% reduction and which agreement it applies to; verify the Comcast pricing description and obtain permission to name Mount Paran.]

Because the question isn’t simply:

“How much are we paying?”

It’s:

“Are we paying the right price for the right solution?”

Those are two very different questions.

And they matter especially in an environment where technology leaders are being asked to do more while managing tight budgets. In CoSN’s 2026 survey of more than 600 K–12 technology leaders, cost-effective/smart budgeting ranked among the top five technology priorities, while budget constraints remained the No. 1 challenge to implementing technology-enabled learning environments.

A less expensive solution isn’t necessarily better.

But neither is continuing to pay for yesterday’s solution simply because nobody has stopped to look.

The Real Problem: Telecom Drift

None of these changes usually happen overnight.

That’s what makes them easy to miss.

Your school changes a little. Technology moves forward. Providers introduce new options. Pricing shifts.

And gradually, the gap grows between the phone and internet solution you have and the one you would choose if you were making the decision today.

That’s Telecom Drift.

You may see it in rising bills. Outdated equipment. Poor connectivity. Unnecessary services. Frustrated users. Administrative headaches. Or technology that technically still works but no longer fits the way your school operates.

The answer isn’t to constantly change providers or chase every new technology.

It’s simply to keep an eye on whether what you have is still right.

You Don’t Have to Keep Up With the Telecom Market. That’s Our Job.

Independent-school leaders already have plenty to keep up with.

Telecom shouldn’t have to be another area you become an expert in.

As an independent telecom broker, TeleSimplicity helps schools understand what they need, compare the right options, get the right price, manage implementation—and continues looking out for them as things change.

Telecom Broker. Trusted Guide.

That’s the idea.

And because we’re paid by the providers, you don’t pay us a dime.

Start With a Telecom Drift Review

We’ll take a look at your current phone and internet environment, what’s changed around it, and whether there may be opportunities to improve your solution or your costs.

Worst case? We take a look and tell you you’ve already got the right solution at the right price.

 

SOURCE NOTES FOR REVIEW

FCC: 2026 report data cited in draft — 32% (2021) to 52% (2025) of students at schools with at least 1 Mbps per student; approximately 63% increase.

CoSN: 2026 U.S. State of EdTech report — cost-effective/smart budgeting among top five technology priorities; budget constraints remain the leading implementation challenge.

The Schenck School: provider comparison and Zoom Phone implementation story come from John’s October conversation; school approval pending.

Mount Paran: 20–25% savings and Comcast pricing example come from John’s October conversation; details and permission pending confirmation.

John Hagan is the founder and CEO of TeleSimplicity (formerly TeleData Select), an independent telecom brokerage based in Atlanta, serving businesses nationwide. John helps businesses make sense of an increasingly complicated telecom landscape—finding the right phone, internet, and connectivity solutions at the right price. As a trusted guide, he navigates the telecom provider marketplace on behalf of his clients, helping them get their telecom right, keep it right, and stay ahead of changing business needs, technology, and pricing.