London schools put broadband on the curriculum

A broadband network which will supply all London's secondary and primary schools with internet access went live today.

The London Grid for Learning (LGfL) is the result of 33 of London's local education authorities (LEAs) teaming up to enable kids and teachers to learn and communicate more effectively.

The network is 10 times the size of the UK's higher education network, SuperJanet, which is used primarily for the transfer of large quantities of research data as well as providing email for students and teaching staff.

So far the project's principle suppliers, Equinox and Thus, have got BT to lay 10 million metres of fibre optic cable to create the core rings of the network and connect the schools to aggregation points.

Phil Male, executive director of operations at Thus, said: "BT has been rolling fibre out at a massive rate. Over six weeks they laid eight million metres. Its fibre supplier, Pirelli was going 24/7 to keep up. They were flat out."

Cost savings for schools connected to the network are estimated by Duncan Crook, CEO of Equinox, to be huge.

He said before the LGfL, a primary school on a 128kbps connection could spend up to £1,800 per year and a secondary school on a 2mbps connection could find themselves paying around £12,500 each year.

Around 10 per cent, or nearly 300, of London's 2,700 schools are connected to the broadband network so far with the total expected to reach at least 500 by the end of August.

The fibre roll-out began in September last year, and will extend another four million metres by the time all London's schools are connected.