Faster Internet speeds for schools, public facilities
ORACABESSA, St Mary — The Ministry of Mining, Energy and ICT, through the Universal Access Fund and in collaboration with E-Learning Jamaica and Columbus Business Solutions (FLOW) will provide high-speed Internet, up to 100Mbps, to several institutions in the northern part of the island.
Last Friday, the stakeholders launched the northern segment of the Wide Area Broadband Network at Oracabessa High School, one of the institutions which has an admirable e-Learning programme and which is set to benefit further from the new initiative.
The 100Mbps broadband facility should also enable faster downloads of streaming videos, images and large data files which is necessary to support the content delivery of the e-learning projects. Students at connected schools will be able to access the data bank hosted on the servers to review pre-recorded lectures and take online examinations, at their leisure. Teachers are also set to benefit from features such as videoconferencing and virtual training sessions.
Speaking at the launch, which featured live demonstrations and practical applications of the technology, Minister of Mining Energy and ICT Phillip Paulwell said he wanted to use technology to bring local institutions to the same level as those in Japan and other parts of the world.
“We want to have our students in Oracabessa on the same level as the students in Japan, 100Mbps in capacity, so that they can engage in videoconferencing, they can engage in downloading documents that many years ago we could only dream of,” Paulwell said.
He added: “Our people need access to information and that is what we are providing here today.”
Paulwell said he wanted Jamaica to attain First World status in ICT in the next five years, and as such he said efforts would be made to increase the number of computers in secondary schools as well as primary and early childhood institutions.
Managing director of the Universal Access Fund, Hugh Cross, said the project was part of a $543-million contract, over five years, to telecommunications providers Flow and LIME to supply broadband Internet service to the northern and southern segments respectively. Under the project, he said some 278 institutions including 162 schools, 38 public libraries and 78 post offices in the two regions are to be provided with high-speed Internet services.
“To date, construction, installation, user-acceptance testing, and connection have been completed at 46 institutions, 14 schools, 13 libraries and 19 post offices, and they are now enjoying high-speed Internet services,” Cross said, adding that plans were currently underway to extend the connectivity to 52 other schools and 82 more libraries.
Cross explained that the network was designed to be highly resilient. No single point of failure on the backbone network would impair the connectivity or services, he said.
“The network will be managed by service providers who will provide continuous surveillance and will immediately detect any service degradation or failure and initiate urgent remedial action,” said he.
President and chief operating officer of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions, Michele English, said the company was extremely pleased to be associated with the project, not just as one of the contractual broadband providers, but also as a proud supporter of public sector development in Jamaica.
“Today we are here to demonstrate, in very tangible ways, why this universal access is important for Jamaica. We will showcase how the technology will specifically enhance the teaching and learning environments of the country,” she said, noting that the increased capacity will facilitate the use of multiple platforms.
“It is this kind of broadband capacity and reliability that will enable the kinds of innovation that our teachers and students need to take us to the next level of enabling the next generations of great thinkers, entrepreneurs and nation builders,” English said.