Network for Learning Managed Network reaches 90% of NZ schools

Thu, 3rd Dec 2015

FYI, this story is more than a year old

Network for Learning's Managed Network has reached 90% of schools in New Zealand, and Spark is celebrating the milestone.

Spark was selected as N4L's preferred vendor in August 2013, and is responsible for internet access, security and content filtering.

The 90% milestone means more than 2282 schools are connect, with 735,000 teachers and students throughout New Zealand now have access to fast, uncapped internet in classrooms.

Spark says the partnership with N4L has seen the two companies deliver a fast, reliable and safe way for New Zealand kids to learn online.

Spark says a virtual team of up to 70 people all over New Zealand work with ten different fibre providers to deliver services for N4L.

Spark Digital CEO Tim Miles says that the team are immensely proud to be part of this project.

“We've worked very closely with N4L since before the first school was connected two years ago to design a scalable solution that can accommodate 800,000+ connections,” Miles says.

"Our team have visited many of these schools nationwide to get a real understanding of how the learning environment has changed since they were in the school system and to understand the different technologies currently in use by schools.

Spark works with different fibre companies to connect each school, then connects and configures the required routers. So far 2255 routers have been deployed.

They also provide web filtering in the cloud, resiliency, and service monitoring.

N4L CEO John Hanna credits the steady rollout rate to the company's collaborative approach.

“Our recipe for success is to work very closely with schools and technology partners, such as Spark, to ensure every school's needs are catered to, and that our technology and services are designed with growth in mind,” he says.

Miles adds, “In addition to connecting the remaining 10% of the country's schools, Spark's focus is making sure we work closely with N4L to ensure we can jointly deliver the best possible online environment for Kiwi kids that encourages and supports the uptake of digital learning.