Catholic schools plug into Telstra broadband

July 14, 2009:Plans for a national broadband network linking Catholic schools across Australia have been unveiled.

More than 1550 Catholic schools and Catholic Education Offices Australia-wide will be connected to Telstra’s network infrastructure that will provide a range of services as the network is installed over the next two years.

Telstra Chief Executive Officer, David Thodey, and the Chair of the newly established Catholic Network Australia Limited Ltd (CNA), Francis Moore, announced the plan at St Monica's Primary School, Footscray.

The $A146 million project will dramatically increase the reach and capacity of broadband connectivity to Catholic schools and provide a diverse range of services for teachers and students.

The Director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and CNA Board member, Stephen Elder, said it was envisaged that CNA would eventually provide a single network for all Australian Catholic agencies and parishes, with increased flexibility. Benefits would include:

Ø A reduction in total costs for individual Catholic networks and agencies

Ø The opportunity for Catholic schools to be at the forefront of ICT provision and capacity in education

Ø The opportunity to share exemplary practice, content and resources across all Catholic schools Australia-wide

Ø Assisting Catholic agencies to respond to the increasing accountability requirements of all governments and

Ø Assisting Catholic culture through the creation of online learning communities.

The network, which is predominantly fibre-based, will connect five data centres across Australia and use Telstra Internet Direct, which provides carrier-grade connectivity and means schools will avoid the risk of congestion configuration issues. Management of the network will be handled through a range of virtual private networks and gateway exchanges, enabling Catholic Education Offices to share and exchange resources across Australia.

Catholic Network Australia Ltd, a subsidiary company of Catholic Resources Ltd, will manage CNA. More than 90 per cent of all Catholic education sites in Australia have committed to the new network.