Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 577: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress which has been made regarding the roll-out of broadband to all schools; the number of schools which have been connected to broadband to date; the company which is providing the service. [31848/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The roll-out of broadband internet connectivity to all recognised primary and post-primary schools is being undertaken in partnership with industry, following the establishment of a three-year €18 million joint Government-IBEC telecommunications and internet federation, TIF, fund. The broadband connectivity is being provided via a schools national broadband network supported by HEAnet, which will provide managed Internet access, e-mail, security controls, content filtering and other services designed to enhance the educational process. A broadband support service is being provided by the NCTE to assist schools with advice and information relating to the roll-out and ongoing use of their broadband connectivity within the schools network.

Following a public tendering process last year, contracts were awarded to six firms for the provision of access connectivity across the nearly 4,000 schools involved. These companies are Digiweb, Smart Telecom, Irish Broadband, BT Ireland, Last Mile and HS Data. The contract for the provision of a broadband router at school level, where appropriate, was awarded to Eircom. The roll-out process is now well under way and the schools national broadband network and the service desk have been established and are operational.

As of 1 November 2005, the number of schools which have had their basic connectivity service installed was 1,801 and the number of schools which have had their router installed, either separately or as part of the basic connectivity service, was 784. In this regard, the satellite provision for 135 schools contains the necessary functionality and does not require the provision of a separate router. It is expected that the roll-out will be fully completed by March 2006.