Posted: 28th Jan, 2011 By: MarkJ

The business division of Virgin Media UK (
Virgin Media Business) has been picked by the
London Grid for Learning (LGfL) to power a new
£200 million superfast fibre optic broadband network in London (
LondonPSN). The Public Sector Network will provide internet services to public bodies' across the region, including 3,200 unique education locations (
2,800 schools).
Mark Heraghty, MD of Virgin Media Business, commented:
"The potential growth of the LondonPSN is absolutely vast. It will not only give schools across the capital the means and tools to provide a richer, more interactive learning environment for their pupils but any and every public sector organisation will be able to make a more resourceful and cost-effective use of ICT through this platform for shared services."
The new network, which is expected to help
save schools in the London area up to £100m per year, will also support the effective use of new technologies such as video conferencing, e-learning tools, virtual learning platforms and podcasts.
In future phases of the framework, any local council, local government and other public sector organisations across London will be able to procure services via the LondonPSN. The available broadband service speeds will go from 10Mbps (Megabits per second) and reach right up to 10Gbps (Gigabits).