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2003

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Equinox, THUS and BT help the London Grid for Learning beat Governments targets for broadband rollout

October 27, 2003 - Equinox, THUS and BT today announced that more than half of all London's schools - 1,386 sites and an estimated 750,000 pupils - are now connected to the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) broadband network. This compares to twenty percent of schools at the same time last year. The LGfL is now on track to have all of London's schools broadband enabled by 2005, one year ahead of the Government's target of 2006. LGfL is enabled by a tripartite alliance of some of the leading communication providers Equinox, THUS and BT.

LGfL is a consortium representing London's Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and is charged with delivering broadband connectivity and services to the capital's schools. LGfL is an integral part of the Government's Broadband in Schools Programme, which aims to promote broadband access for schools and provide teachers and pupils with a gateway to educationally valuable content. The network is 10 times the size of the UK's higher education network, SuperJanet.

The LGfL is already having a significant impact, empowering teachers through access to online learning materials and giving pupils the power to extend their learning outside the classroom via the LGfL online portal. This provides a virtual learning environment accessible via any PC at school or at home with access to the Internet. So far 420,000 London teachers and pupils have registered to use the portal. In addition to online learning materials, each registered user is provided with their own email address and web space, in addition to 25 megabytes of storage.

One school already benefiting from LGfL is Honeywell Junior School in Wandsworth, South London. Headteacher, Duncan Roberts said: "We now have fast and robust links to the LGfL portal, enabling staff and pupils to enjoy and benefit from almost instant delivery of web pages and media rich learning resources. The LGfL is also helping to facilitate closer collaboration between schools and improved ways of working. It is so refreshing to be able to use the Internet quickly and efficiently after years of putting up with slow unresponsive connections to the Internet."

One example of the online learning materials improving children's education at schools like Honeywell Junior School on the LGfL is:

Espresso: a comprehensive, easy-to-use, and constantly growing digital library of high quality, innovative, video-rich cross-curricular resources, all tailored to the National Curriculum and related to QCA schemes of work. Espresso is stored on a cache server in LEA networks so that full-screen videos and other broadband resources can be accessed immediately. Espresso was previously only available via a costly satellite service.

Brian Durrant, Chief Executive of LGfL, said: "The realisation of a capital-wide Grid for Learning is an unprecedented collaborative achievement. Enormous credit should go to the 33 London LEAs for acting together through the LGfL Trust and to Equinox, THUS and BT for ensuring the project is on track. By working together to provide high-speed Internet links for the capital's schools, they have achieved a powerful broadband network with significant savings due to economies of scale. The LGfL will provide a solid broadband foundation which will enable the future enrichment and enhancement of teaching and learning in the capital - our vision, supported by the DfES, is to build on this foundation and work with LEAs to make London the World exemplar city for the application of ICT in teaching and learning."

"Broadband is absolutely crucial for access to digital learning material," said Phil Male, Chief Operating Officer of THUS plc. "The LGfL network means that London schools will benefit from extremely cost-effective broadband connectivity and will position London at the forefront of the world's learning networks and delivering key Government priorities of providing accessible, affordable, ICT for teaching and learning. We hope to continue to build on our close relationship with London's education community."

"This important milestone demonstrates the true power of Ethernet broadband technology," said Angus Merelie, CEO of Equinox Solutions. "It has already made a significant and positive difference to the educational community and is capable of doing the same across a wide range of public services. What excites us most is that we are only at the beginning. The innovative network that we have designed is easily expandable as demand for services and applications grow."

Stuart Horwood, managing director of BT Wholesale Markets, said: "Broadband is at the heart of BT, and we are delighted to be working in partnership to put it at the heart of education in the capital. The immense range of new possibilities opened up by the LGfL broadband network is capable of transforming the whole educational experience of teachers and pupils alike. The fact that we are on track to get 100 per cent coverage of schools a year ahead of our initial target is a fantastic achievement by all concerned and we are proud to be associated with the project."

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