SCHOOLS and colleges in the north west are to benefit from a £1.8m super-fast broadband Internet link.

Pupils and teachers in 13 local education authorities across the region will be connected by the system which will operate up to 2,800 times quicker than an ordinary domestic set-up.

The North West Learning Grid is part of a government initiative to link schools and colleges to get the best from the Internet.

Manchester-based Your Communications has landed the contract to set up the grid which will operate at an impressive 155Mbit/s.

As well as providing the web server and the broadband fibre links, the company, which used to be called Norweb Telecom, is also responsible for maintaining and managing security firewalls.

There will also be a videoconferencing platform.

The local education authorities taking part are: Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Oldham, Bolton, Warrington, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Halton, Blackburn and Blackpool.

Major contract

Your Communications managing director Hugh Logan said the contract was a major coup for the company.

It was delighted to have won the contract against fierce competition.

‘‘This is a big win for us and also a big win for the region.’’ he said.

It is the first contract win of its kind for Your Communications since it acquired Chelmsford-based Netforce, which specialises in internet sites, e-commerce and e-security solutions.

The North West Learning Grid is also providing Granada Learning to develop a regional intranet package.

This aims to provide every pupil and teacher with personal web space, access to secure chat rooms and discussion forums.

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