High-speed education network upgrade completed

A new high-speed network for Brisbane’s Catholic schools has been delivered by Orro, as part of an 18-month-long project with Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE).

There are 146 Catholic schools and offices across the Archdiocese that will benefit from the project, which has now futureproofed BCE’s network for years to come. The network upgrade will also provide access to education services for more than 76,000 students and 12,500 staff, managed by Orro over the next five years, and enable BCE to invest in education programs critical to engaging staff and students across the state.

Technology is playing an increasingly critical role in the Prep to 12 education sector and has transformed the way teachers engage with their students. As the reliance on digital tools and resources increases, access to fast, stable and secure connectivity has become an essential requirement to deliver high-quality educational outcomes.

The solution from Orro incorporates the establishment of dual nbn fibre services (Enterprise Ethernet and FTTP), increasing the resiliency of the network. The upgraded network also incorporates advanced cybersecurity solutions from Fortinet, delivering granular content filtering and edge network security requirements. Schools will see connection speeds increase by more than 400%, equating to approximately 1.7 Mbps per student, significantly improving the quality of digital learning services and providing more flexibility in the network.

BCE’s Head of Information Technology, Leigh Williams, said the project had put BCE in front.

“We are now in the top tier nationally when it comes to available bandwidth per student,” she said.

“Most schools doubled their bandwidth immediately when switched over to the new SD-WAN, and several others quadrupled their available bandwidth. The network architecture connecting our schools together and to the wider world were transformed, and three decisions combined contributed to this.

“One of these decisions was the installation of both nbn Enterprise Ethernet and FttP connections, and the second was SD-WAN technology to aggregate higher- and lower-grade nbn links and direct internet connectivity. Finally, Fortinet was able to meet the complex content filtering requirements of education which meant this could be moved to the edge.”

“The upgraded network has now futureproofed BCE’s schools and will ensure students and staff can access online learning tools efficiently, while collaborating and communicating effectively, regardless of their location,” added David Cox, Director of Business Development at Orro.

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