Driven by ever increasing targets for minimum symmetrical bandwidth provision to schools by the DfES (Department for Education & Skills), Bedfordshire County Council (BCC) and its strategic delivery partner HBS sought a solution that could deliver a consistently high level of broadband service regardless of geographic location. ICT managers at the Council were also very keen to ensure maximum cost-effectiveness for initial connection, ongoing service and a straightforward future upgrade path.
Challenges
Bedfordshire is a predominantly rural county with a large number of schools in comparison to its population. Contrary to assumption, fixed wireless technology was largely inappropriate for its needs from a technical and a cost standpoint. Having conducted extensive wireless surveys, BCC/HBS sought to derive SDSL based managed network services in order to establish a series of 2.3Mbps and bonded 9.2 Mbps connections for its Lower/Middle and Upper schools, respectively.
Solution
Following a successful pilot project, Updata unbundled eleven local telephone exchanges with its broadband access equipment, connecting over 100 schools using a blend of SDSL, long range G.SHDSL and wireless in the last mile. A high-capacity wireless backhaul network was also implemented. The network operates using established QoS (Quality of Service) standards in order to support critical applications such as video conferencing, e-learning, collaboration and remote student access. BCC/HBS is also examining ways of gaining additional benefits from the networks’ implementation including extending usage to the local business community.