TasmaNet rolls out NBN Enterprise Ethernet to Tasmanian schools

Tasmanian communications provider TasmaNet has helped Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) overcome slow and unreliable Internet in remote areas with the rollout of NBN business Enterprise Ethernet across the State. TasmaNet says the high-speed Internet service over dedicated fibre can deliver speeds of nearly 1 Gigabit per second for both uploads and downloads, even to remote schools, with 36 of 38 CET schools so far reaping the benefits. 

According to TasmaNet the Enterprise Ethernet solution has improved CET’s ability to centrally manage 26 schools’ connections across its complex, multi-site network in regional Tasmania - and the organisation is now able to roll out updated enterprise, cloud-based systems for student information and finance, with the same benefits available for every school. 

“Importantly, being on business nbn Enterprise Ethernet helps level the playing field for students at CET schools,” TasmaNet said. 

“We had different schools on different internet connections with different bandwidths, and it created such a disparity of service,” says Astrid Goss, IT Manager at CET. “It meant that many of our regional or remote schools were unable to use the same type of tools and education systems that our metropolitan schools were able to use.” 

Goss said, “transitioning to business nbn Enterprise Ethernet has dramatically improved our schools’ ability to access high-speed connectivity, regardless of their location”. 

“This has helped us to create the digitally advanced learning environments that underpin a modern, content-rich STEM education, and increase opportunities across our schools. Our students can now access online learning services and applications that weren’t an option before. Our teachers have also benefited from increased opportunities for their professional learning.” 

TasmaNet CEO Elizabeth Aris said, “nbn Enterprise Ethernet enables us to provide an improved connectivity experience for CET over standard NBN services which slow down when there are multiple users”. 

“Enterprise Ethernet’s High Class of Service includes features such as committed and symmetrical upload and download bandwidth that is designed to support business applications with real-time or mission critical data requirements, yet it is typically 30%-40% cheaper than private fibre solutions available through the larger telcos.” 

At St Brigid’s Catholic School in Wynyard Tasmania, principal Ben McCulloch says: “Before, teachers would have to use their personal mobile hotspot at times to connect online. For professional learning, we can now link up through video conferencing instead of driving up to four hours back and forth each way.”