Helping rural and regional students access high-performing internet.
One of the benefits of working with a medium sized company like Ericom is the relationships we are able to build. A recent example of our True Partnership philosophy in action was our work with 56 rural and regional schools across NSW as part of the Connected Country Schools Wi-Fi program.
CCS was a $46 million dollar state government project that has significantly improved connectivity for 180,000 regional and rural school students in 900 schools across NSW. Thanks to major installations of high performing Wi-Fi infrastructure, these country kids now have better access to online learning tools and resources, streaming media, global educational institutions and more.
Ericom played an important role in the delivery of this project, which took place between 2017 and 2019. Our cabling team rolled out complete wireless network upgrades in 56 schools throughout NSW, from Albury all the way to Tamworth. As a result of our efficiency, flexibility and high-standards, Ericom became one of the trusted partners for this project.
Ericom was then called in to do remediation works in schools where there were outstanding defects left by other contractors. This led to further engagement with the Department of Education on communications works and customised communications solutions in rural and regional schools. We ended up doing 20 sites across the state, and our work for the DoE continues.
“We are now working on the metro schools network uplift (MNU), completing full wireless replacements to enable 10-gig capabilities over optical fibre,” says Digital Health and Infrastructure Team Leader Tate English.
Ericom is also taking part in similar works for the state’s rural access gap network uplift (RAGNU).
A big take-home from our success on the CCS project is that doing the job well – being meticulous, courteous and not cutting corners – pays off.
Well done to the team of 15 in our cabling department who are doing us proud with their commitment to invisible excellence.
