CUSTOMER: DEPT OF EDUCATION
PROJECT: C2K MANAGED WIDE AREA NETWORK

BTNI was awarded a contract to deliver a fully Managed Wide Area Network solution to every school in Northern Ireland as a sub-contractor to Hewlett-Packard. The initial 5 year contract, part of the C2K programme, was completed by the end of 2004. The network is believed to be one of  the largest educational Wide Area Network in the world.

As a result of this contract all of the Province’s 1200 schools have been supplied with BT 2Mbit/s LearningStream circuits which have been developed specifically by BT for the use of the education sector. All the schools are linked back to two Data centres, which supply an enormous range of educational applications to teachers and pupils, using high capacity and resilient LES 100 services. Local access services have been provided using a range of technologies including fibre optic cables and microwave radio. Internet access has been provided through a BT Net circuit connected to BT’s Belfast Data Centre. Internet bandwidth is currently running in excess of 70Mbit/s but can flex to handle greater bandwidths as required.

In addition BTNI will be providing a complete managed service which includes the following elements;
• Project management of the aggressive delivery programme
• Ongoing network design consultancy to maintain the effectiveness of the solution
• Supply, installation and ongoing support of CISCO router infrastructure
• Network monitoring, management and reporting to a Service Level Agreement for the duration of the contract.