Broadband goes back to the classroom - News

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Broadband goes back to the classroom

By Adrian Kerr, ZDNet Australia
June 27, 2001
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/soa/Broadband-goes-back-to-the-classroom/0,139023165,120234892,00.htm

Australia's second-ranked telco has won a AU$4.5 million dollar contract to deliver two-way broadband Internet access to remote schools via satellite.

The two year deal with the New South Wales Department of Education and Training will cover 171 remote and rural schools in the state.

"Under the terms of the [deal], Optus will now carry information for more than 7,200 school students via the four-megabit satellite service," the company said in a statement.

NSW Premier, Bob Carr, said the government was committed to providing equal access to information for all state schools.

"This deal with Optus means that all NSW students, from Broken Hill to Bronte, will now have fast connections to the latest information on the Internet, as well as to each other," Carr said.

Optus announced plans for Australia's first two-way broadband satellite service last week and hopes to deliver the services to schools by September.

"It is a technology where geography is no barrier - students in remote and rural areas can now receive a reliable, high-speed, two-way service," Chris Hancock, MD, Optus Data & Business Services, said.