£10m broadband network connects Cheshire

Cheshire County Council is developing a £10m broadband network to deliver high-speed communications to 500 sites across the region.

The Connected Cheshire project uses a mixed radio and fixed line infrastructure to provide high-speed access to a range of sites including 192 council offices, 346 schools, 39 libraries, and youth centres, leisure facilities and highway depots.

The five-year deal was signed with services vendor EDS in July last year and after six months of preliminary work the first sites are now coming on line. Phase one of the project will see 117 locations connected by Easter, 350 by the end of the year, and the full 500 by the end of 2004.

The council chose to develop a predominantly radio-based network because of the lower long-term costs, says Connected Cheshire project manager John Barrett.

'A key feature of radio is that in return for a large up-front investment you have reduced revenue costs.

'If we lease circuits, that is an on-going cost.

'But if we spend money on a wireless infrastructure up front, there are on-going annual costs but they are very much lower than cost of leasing circuits,' he said.

Twenty-six core locations spread across the county are connected using fibre leased lines. The majority of onward connections are wireless, using existing radio masts.

Connected Cheshire underpins the council's drive to achieve the government's 2005 electronic service delivery targets.

A key driver is the development of elearning, says Barrett.

'We will be able to deliver interactive learning for a wide range of people including children at school, adults in public libraries, county council staff and professional development for teachers,' he said.

The content will be provided by the North West Grid for Learning.