Every primary and secondary school in the country will be connected to broadband by the end of next year according to IBEC's Telecommunications and Internet Federation and the government. They have jointly committed 18 million euro towards the roll-out of broadband to all 4,100 primary and secondary schools.
Funding the delivery of Broadband access to all schools by industry, underpins the fostering of a new knowledge based society which can support higher value added jobs and sustain higher levels of economic activity in an increasingly competitive world economy, which will in turn ensure the Irish communications sector continues to prosper into the future," said Mr Gerry Fahy, Vice Chairman of TIF.
It is expected that a tender for the contract will issue in May 2004, with a view to beginning deployment in schools by end 2004.
The Agreement involves a voluntary commitment of €15 million over a three year period by the telecommunications sector as represented by IBEC's Telecommunications and Internet Federation (TIF). This will be augmented by a Government contribution of €3 million.
The Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey, said that the roll-out of broadband to schools is seen as a crucial strand in the Department of Education's strategy of integrating information and communication technology into teaching and learning, and the Department of Communications wider vision of promoting the use of broadband technologies in local communities around the country.
