19 September 2002
RM awarded South West Grid for Learning broadband contract for a further two
years
RM plc, the UK's leading supplier of ICT software, systems and services to
education establishments, has had its contract as sole supplier of managed
broadband and Internet services to the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL)
extended for a further two years. RM was originally contracted by SWGfL to
provide these services until August 2003, under the terms of the original
agreement this has now been extended to August 2005. Since the contract was
originally awarded in November 2000, SWGfL has been worth approximately £7
million to RM.
SWGfL is a regional broadband consortium (RBC), an organisation funded by the
Department for Education and Skills' National Grid for Learning initiative to
provide broadband Internet access to schools. RM provides SWGfL with a complete
managed service, covering day-to-day operational management of the broadband
network. As well as providing high speed Internet connections to schools, RM is
also providing filtering (using the RM SafetyNet Plus product) as well as
security and web hosting services.
Commenting on the contract extension, Tim Pearson, Chief Executive of RM said,
'The South West Grid for Learning was the only regional broadband consortium to
achieve its original DfES targets and is now on track to provide broadband
services to all 2,500 schools in the 15 LEAs in the region by 2006. It's an
excellent example of public private partnership with RM staff working closely
with the SWGfL team to provide a dependable high-speed Internet service.'
Richard Randall, Chair of SWGfL, said,
'The single most important thing we have been able to offer to our schools is a
reliable and secure Internet service that allows them to use ICT to enhance
teaching and learning without some of the technical worries. Working together
with RM to constantly monitor and refine the services offered we have been able
to deliver this in an extremely cost-effective manner, seeing connection costs
decrease despite an increase in telecommunication charges. We are now looking
forward to continuing the partnership and extending the benefits of the SWGfL
to all schools in the region.'
- Ends -
For further information, please contact:
Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08709 200200
Andrew Fenwick/Fiona Fong, Brunswick 020 7404 5959
Notes to editors:
The original South West Grid for Learning contract was signed in November 2000
and valued at £6.2 million over three years.
RM was contracted to provide managed broadband services to schools in the ten
local education authorities making up the SWGfL consortium. The solution
provided by RM includes 2Mbit/s connectivity, filtered Internet access and a
variety of wide-area networking services. RM also provides web hosting and
security services.
Since November 2000 the number of schools and LEAs participating in SWGfL has
increased. Under the terms of the original contract, the service offered by RM
has been extended. The value of the contract in the two years so far to RM has
been £7 million.
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