Virgin Media Business Help 2000 London UK Schools Get WiFi and VoIP
Cable operator Virgin Media Business has confirmed that 2,000 schools across London (England) can now benefit from wireless internet (WiFi) and VoIP connectivity via their new Public Services Network (PSN) that has been built alongside the London Grid for Learning (LGfL).
The new £200m London Public Services Network (LondonPSN) was officially launched in partnership with Virgin Media Business during January 2011 (here) and since then work has been underway to build out the new fibre optic based network, which could end up saving schools an estimated £100m per year.
Brian Durrant, CEO of the LGfL Trust, said:
“LGfL has an established track record in supporting schools which aim to transform learning and raise attainment through the effective use of new technologies. Technology is radically changing the way we live and work, and increasingly empowers the way that teachers teach and children learn.
These latest service offerings are another milestone in LGfL’s history, enabled by the new LGfL 2.0 network which is already facilitating the delivery of a richer learning experience to children across the capital region.”
Public sector organisations across London can also order fixed line service speeds from 10Mbps (Megabits per second) and up to 10Gbps (Gigabits) via the network. The addition of WiFi and VoIP will certainly do no harm.
The news comes shortly after the E-Learning Foundation suggested that limited access to WiFi in UK schools could be preventing children from taking advantage of digital learning tools.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.
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How odd for Virgin to name it the “London Public Services Network” when it is really the “London Grid for Learning”, especially when it the name is the same as the very different government “Public Services Network” standard. Surely just a coincidence and not designed to confuse?
Still, great to know our children can use wifi rather than mobile on their smart phones!
Kids here all get iPads at their school. That’ll be the next step… and I bet Virgin don’t fund *that* part.