Broadband boost for Lancashire and Cumbria
Lancaster University to roll out new network to improve network services for schools and education organisations
Schools in Cumbria will benefit from the improved network
Lancaster University is rolling out a new regional fibre optic network to provide greater resilience for broadband connectivity.
The network will serve 12,000 schools, libraries and museums across Lancashire and Cumbria, because the university acts as a networking centre providing broadband for all the schools, further and higher education and research organisations in the region.
Professor Barry Forde, deputy information services director, says the main driver for the overhaul was disaster recovery capability.
‘It’s more a case of an insurance policy rather than a return on our investment and we will not be at the mercy of any one circuit going down,’ he said.
‘Because the new network runs along the gas pipeline network it’s well separated from the route our existing fibre uses along the roadside and reduces the risk of outages.'
The new network will provide a direct link into Manchester Telecity, the closest interconnect point in the UK, which will improve the quality of connectivity, according to Forde.
‘Another driver for us was to get very high capacity connectivity into the centre of Manchester,’ he said.
The 10-year contract awarded to Geo (Hutchison Network Services) at a value of £575,000 will see the roll out of the new network with no interruption to services, says Forde.
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