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Appendix A

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Current bandwidth provision to schools in Australian states and territories

This information was provided by the MCEETYA ICT in Schools Taskforce, 4 June 2002.

The following table provides a summary of current bandwidth provision to government schools in Australian States and territories as at June 2002, and summarises currently planned projects to increase bandwidth in future.

	Current Bandwidth Provision	Planned improvements to Bandwidth Provision
New South Wales	813 schools with 128 kbps access 165 schools connected to two-way satellite service 17 schools involved in trials of various technologies providing enhanced services including use of State Rail fibre optic network, ADSL and cable All other schools have 64 kbps ISDN services	Detailed 4 year Broadband Plan developed. Funding announced in 2002/03 State budget A Request for Quote (RFQ) for the rollout of enhanced bandwidth for schools and colleges over the next two years has been released Where ISDN is available, all schools to have minimum 128 kbps link in 2002 85% of schools to have minimum 2 Mbps links by end of 2003 By end 2004, minimum configuration 256 kbps. 45% with 10 Mbps, 47% with 2 Mbps
Victoria	Centrally funded 64 kbps per campus. Centrally funded additional 64 kbps for >500 pupils. Centrally funded additional 128 kbps for >1500 pupils. Schools required to fund additional bandwidth. Schools advised to ensure the provision of 64 kbps per 64 network connected devices. Current Bandwidth to schools: 1278 schools with 64 kbps 311 schools with 128 kbps 8 schools with 320 kbps 1 school with 384 kbps 4 schools with 448 kbps 16 schools with 512 kbps 4 schools with 768 kbps 3 schools with 1024 kbps 7 schools with 2048 kbps	There is strong demand from schools for affordable higher bandwidth. Usage is constrained by the presently available funding and pricing. The Department is investigating bandwidth needs with a view to making a case for increased funding. New whole-of-Victorian-government purchasing arrangements for data and voice communications will be put in place in 2003, but significant cost relief for data bandwidth is not expected. Investigations are also being conducted into bandwidth management tools and content pushing via satellite.
Queensland	1330 Schools - 146 kbps average school connection 49 Satellite 64 kbps uplink 474 ADSL Connections 464 x 256 kbps ADSL 2 x 512 kbps ADSL 8 x 1.5 Mbps ADSL 799 OnRamp (ISDN) 712 x 64 kbps 87 x 128 kbps In the last year, ADSL has been provided to 470 schools Schools with ADSL have the choice of upgrading to 512 kbps or 1.5 Mbps. Schools with 64 kbps (ISDN) can upgrade to 128 kbps. The cost is met by the school	90 schools to ADSL in the next 2 months
SA	Minimum 128 kbps Schools > 675 pupils have 256 kbps 7 sites with 2 Mbps 1 has 1.5 Mbps ADSL 4 2-way satellite sites Provision has not changed over the last two years	Over next two years will be improving quality of services with opportunities for schools to expand on demand (taking advantage of state telecommunications agreement with Telstra with wide-band IP)
WA	Majority 64 kbps dial on demand PSTN dial on demand for remainder Some very remote schools not connected Provision has not changed over the last two years As at May 2002: 45 metro schools connected at 10 Mbps 21 regional schools at 2 Mbps 25 regional schools at 512 kbps 3 temporary connections at 384 kbps 2 schools connected on the 2 way satellite service	In the process of rolling out: 10 Mbps to every metro school 2 Mbps to every regional high school 512 kbps to every regional primary school 2 way satellite (5.9 Mbps inbound shared and 3x128 kbps outbound shared) to 39 remote schools
Tasmania	ISDN Connections 140 Schools with 64 kbps, 31 with 128 kbps 5 with 256 kbps, 5 with 512 kbps ADSL Connections 11 with 256 kbps/64 kbps, 10 with 512 kbps/128 kbps 4 with 1.5 Mbps/256 kbps Wireless Connections 3 schools with 11 Mbps radio links Dial Up Connections 11 schools with dial up connections Two years ago most schools only had 64 kbps.	Over the next two years it is expected that over 50% of Tasmanian Schools will have from 2 Mbps-10 Mbps (also managing requirement for higher bandwidth through special caches and other network management tools).
ACT	64 kbps ISDN to most schools and 128 kbps ISDN to all colleges with dial up facilities available for a few outlying schools. progressive rollout of TransACT (VDSL) to schools is now underway 5 schools connected to TransACT with 2 Mbps/ 256 kbps link with up to 30 expected to be connected by July 2002.	Implementing a VDSL WAN that will provide a 2 Mbps/256 kbps link to all schools with < 600 pupils. Schools with > 600 pupils and colleges will be provided with a 5 Mbps/512 kbps link. Upgrading of dial up facilities under investigation Alternatives to VDSL being investigated for schools without the VDSL link (considering 64 kbps Onramp service, satellite etc)
Northern Territory	400 kbps satellite download, 56 kbps uplink Some ISDN uplink up to 128 kbps Increased satellite bandwidth at Belrose from 1 Mbps to 4.5 Mbps over the last 12 months Implementation of 26 2 way satellites into remote schools	Considering wireless for urban schools to provision satellite backchannel.

Document ID: 19680 |
Last modified: 6 February 2008, 10:49am