According to the Department for Schools and Education, at the end of June 2004, 65% of schools in England were connected with
high-speed connections. Portsmouth will now be able to add to this statistic, and show others how this target can be exceeded
whilst also saving costs.
Schools in Portsmouth previously achieved connection to the web and to each other via a mixture of aDSL and leased lines.
This provided connection speeds of 2 Mbps. However the new network offers a substantial improvement with speeds of 10Mbps
to all schools. The schools plan to use this increased bandwidth for the adoption of exciting new developments including
e-Learning. They will also be able to capitalise on IP applications such as video surveillance, IP telephony and video conferencing
once the infrastructure has been deployed.
Xpert Communications will be installing two major nodes into which all the schools will link via a LAN extension service from
BT, providing high-speed secure communications between sites up to 25 km apart. This effectively extends each individual
school's network so that they now appear as one, enabling application sharing throughout the LEA. A connection will also
be made with the London networking providing a connection with the national LEA network. Layer 3 Cisco switches have been
specified to ensure the network can be intelligently managed, enabling issues to be identified and addressed by Xpert Communications
often before any schools become aware there is an issue.
Each school is currently being assessed to ensure co-location sites are identified, and appropriate installation decisions
are made, after which roll-out will begin. The service will be shared between co-located sites to further reduce costs.
Xpert Communications has also won a five year maintenance and managed service contract providing proactive management of the
network. Xpert will act as a single point of contact, identifying and rectifying any problems on the network should they
arise.
"This new network will significantly enhance the development and use of online learning in our schools and enable them to
take full advantage of learning platforms, media rich resources and remote teaching through video conferencing." Paul Heinrich,
ICT Adviser, Portsmouth City Council.
"We are delighted with the solution that Xpert Communications has proposed. They understand the challenges within the education
sector, and identify new technologies that can make a real difference to our practice. This insight comes through in their
solutions." Ian Miller, Project Manager, Portsmouth LEA.
"Education is a key focus for our business and we are pleased to be working with Portsmouth LEA on this exciting project developing
best value infrastructure which will enable better communications and e-learning." Rob Coyne, Chief Commercial Officer, Xpert
Communications.