Launch of Highlands and Islands Pathfinder Broadband Procurement Project
Pupils at Crown Primary School, Inverness, are the first in the Highlands and Islands to benefit from a £70 million investment in high capacity broadband links, which will revolutionise the access and delivery of teaching methods and learning support for pupils and staff.
Over the next two years, another 850 public buildings across the Highlands and Islands, including schools and libraries and offices, will share the same high bandwidtch network infrastructure.
Telecommunications company, THUS plc, has won the contract to deliver the Highlands and Islands Pathfinder Broadband Procurement Project, which is led by The Highland Council and partnered by councils from Argyll and Bute, Moray, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
To mark the launch of the Pathfinder project, Scotland’s First Minister Jack McConnell spoke with Primary 7 pupils via an electronic link up between St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh and the school.
The pupils are heading to Holyrood on 24 May as part of a school project on the Scottish Parliament and were delighted to have an interview with the First Minister in advance of their visit. The Scottish Executive is contributing £63 million towards the costs of the project.
Arthur McCourt, Chief Executive of The Highland Council, said: “Ensuring that local public services have access to the latest broadband technology is a vital step in modernising local government. It will provide a tremendous boost to modern learning and teaching practice and to the provision of services to the public.”
Head Teacher at the 364-pupil Crown Primary School, Linda Cowie, said: “We are thrilled at being the first school to benefit from this state of the art technology. It opens up huge opportunities for learning in the classroom.”
Bill Allan, Chief Executive Officer, THUS plc said: “We are delighted to have signed this important contract. THUS is a well established supplier to both National and Local Government, and to add the Highlands and Islands Pathfinder Broadband Procurement Project to our extensive public sector portfolio is further testament to our capabilities in this sector.”
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