The Mercer Island School District has awarded Wiseman Utilities of Olympia the bid to install a fiber-optic network for the district. This will be one of the first of several pieces of the installation project.

Wiseman Utilities was the low bidder out of six bids, coming in at $185,817.

The MISD Board of Directors has approved the bid.

Jennifer Wright, executive director of learning and technology services for the district, said this opens up possibilities the district didn’t have before, such as streaming live video and video conferencing. Wright said it will increase their bandwidth from “a small amount to infinite possibilities.”

The district hopes to have the project completed in time for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The project will involve burying optical fiber from Island Park Elementary south on Island Crest Way to 68th Street, where it will travel west to the intersection of 84th and 68th. At that point the connection will become aerial again, Wright said.