CONNECT A SCHOOL, CONNECT A COMMUNITY

There are many benefits to connecting schools with broadband networks.  But few plans to connect schools actually define what broadband means in terms of speed.  It is important for plans to detail broadband specifications, since the connectivity requirements of schools vary tremendously.  A large urban school with many students, for instance, will need more bandwidth than a small rural school.⁴⁶  At the same time, inadequate bandwidth will inhibit the use of some applications, undercutting the usefulness of the service for educational purposes.

Malaysia found that a bandwidth of 128 kilobits per second (downlink) and /64 kbps (uplink) “was insufficient to support the Smart School Applications Software and communications requirements.”⁴⁷ In developed countries, broadband speeds in school connectivity initiatives include:

- Australia: 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for 90 per cent of schools and 12 Mbps for the remainder;⁴⁸

^- Ireland:  100 Mbps for post-primary schools;⁴⁹

- United Kingdom:  2, 5, 10 or 100 Mbps for schools in London.⁵⁰

It is also important to set broadband speed guidelines for deployment that may be outsourced to third parties.  Different levels of broadband connectivity may be appropriate for different schools, depending on the schools' size or location.

There are several technologies for broadband access.  Availability, appropriateness and cost are the key factors in deciding which method to use for Internet access.  If telephone lines already exist in the school, it may be possible to use digital subscriber line (DSL) service, which can be offered without additional investment in infrastructure (other than for a DSL modem).  Other broadband options include coaxial cable or fiber-optic connections, although these options may not be available or affordable in many developing countries.

Broadband wireless technologies such as WiMAX,⁵¹ or third generation mobile or satellite Internet access are possibilities wherever fixed lines are unavailable.⁵² Examples of various technologies used around the world to provide Internet access to schools are shown in the table below.

Table ‎3‑5: Internet connectivity technologies

Countries should take into consideration the state of their communications networks when they identify the technology to be used to connect schools.  However, they can also take a technology-neutral approach, allowing any technology to be used to provide connectivity.  This approach is often preferable, particularly when there are a variety of different school environments and where not all technologies may be available for each school.  This flexibility needs to be weighed against the benefits of obtaining economy of scale and the full support a large project might receive by selecting a particular standard.