A British broadband consortium has announced the early completion of the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) scheme, a five-year project bringing high-speed broadband access to thousands of teachers and pupils across the city.
The project represented an investment of 40 milion euros ($59 million), benefiting 2,582 schools across London, a statement from the group said.
As a part of the government's Broadband in Schools Programme, LGfL provides teachers and pupils with a gateway to valuable educational content through high-speed broadband access to advanced Internet applications and resources.
LGfL's online portal provides a virtual learning environment accessible from a PC, at school or at home, creating learning opportunities outside the classroom. The network extends a school's existing local area network by delivering Internet access with speeds between 2Mbps and 100Mbps, depending on the school's environment.
Service provider Synetrix has built the network and is set to provide Internet services including email, security, content and URL filtering, Web hosting, and virus scanning.
Broadband firm Thus will provide the delivery and management of the broadband fibre connections, together with supplying the core network fibres, while BT Wholesale will supply the physical school connections in association with Thus.