Eircom Wholesale drives fibre broadband to 42 schools

Forty-two schools in counties Cork, Kilkenny, Kerry, Louth, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford and Dublin are to receive 100Mbps fibre broadband now that a partnership has been forged between HEAnet and Eircom Wholesale.

The schools will be connected to Eircom’s National Ethernet Fibre Network, providing uncontended 100Mbps upload and download speeds enabling high-speed internet access and real-time applications.

The future-proofed Ethernet fibre network is capable of providing schools with these speeds and beyond as their bandwidth demands grow.

“High-speed fibre connectivity is essential to enabling the sort of digital learning environment that Irish children will need to compete in the 21^st century,” said Peter Clarke, sales and marketing director with Eircom Wholesale.

“Thanks to today’s announcement, 42 schools in eight counties across Ireland will be able to take full advantage of digital educational opportunities, such as interactive whiteboards, in-class online research and real-time collaboration between schools that only high-speed connectivity can offer.”

Teachers now more confident

In addition to providing direct connectivity to 42 schools, Eircom Wholesale’s national fixed infrastructure will be used by a number of service providers to provide high-speed connectivity to secondary schools as part of the Schools Broadband rollout programme.

“Having high-speed fibre broadband has revolutionised teaching practices in our school,” said Edel Collins, deputy principal of Our Lady’s National School in Clonskeagh, Dublin.

“Teachers are now more confident using broadband during classes. Before, teachers were anxious to see if the programme was going to load properly. It was difficult trying to keep the children occupied while you waited for something to load.

“Children are more engaged and now get excited when we use iPads and laptops, which are now a standard part of our day-to-day teaching,” Collins said.