45 national schools to get 100Mbps broadband from AirSpeed Telecom

AirSpeed Telecom has been selected by the Department of Education and Skills to deploy telecommunications infrastructure for the delivery of a 100Mbps broadband service to an additional 45 national schools nationwide.

In recent years, AirSpeed Telecom has installed high-speed broadband in hundreds of national and secondary schools across the country as part of a number of Government schemes and the company has now been selected to service an additional 45 national schools in counties Mayo, Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim. To date, the vast majority of national schools across Ireland have operated with extremely limiting DSL speeds or satellite broadband.

Brendan Martin, Sales Director with AirSpeed Telecom, says: “Airspeed Telecom is really excited to be part of an innovative programme by the Department of Education and Skills to enable rural primary schools with high speed access to the internet. It is fantastic that our high speed connectivity will help equip a whole new generation of students with the skills they need for a future technology and information driven Ireland.”

Vincent Duffy, Principal of Breaffy National School, Ballina, Co. Mayo says the service will make a significant difference to his school: “At Breaffy National School, we recently invested in new laptops and mobile devices for our students. In order for these to operate simultaneously and for students to get the best from these new, state-of-the-art devices, we needed sufficient broadband and online connectivity which can only be achieved using high speed internet access. Thanks to AirSpeed Telecom, we now have a 100Mbps internet connection which will improve the overall learning experience of students and ensure they have access to the vast array of educational resources available online.”

“Many of our literacy and numeracy programmes are now supplemented by online material that is crucial in enhancing the learning of children. For this material to be of practical use, a school needs fast and, most importantly, reliable internet access, particularly for resources that require the streaming of content. A teacher must be able to access this information without fail for it to be of use. If a wireless network is not fuelled by a high speed internet connection it will not function properly and therefore be of little use in the primary classroom.”

For more information visit: http://airspeed.ie