Regional Broadband Consortium
Encyclopedia
Regional Broadband Consortia were created in 2000, in the United Kingdom
, under the auspices of what was then known as the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) National Grid for Learning
(NGfL) programme. The NGfL title was subsequently dropped in favour of 'ICT in schools' and more latterly is referred to by the title 'Harnessing Technology' from a recent department publication. Since 2007 the functions of the DfES have largely passed to the new Department for Children, Schools and Families
(DCSF). Their purpose was to secure lower prices for broadband
connections and services for schools by aggregating demand across a region and entering into region wide contracts.
Despite frequent challenges, particularly from the telecommunications industry and the dominant national carrier, which held a monopoly outside the urban areas, the RBCs managed to defend the 2 Mbit/s standard against much cheaper emerging ADSL alternatives. Some providers were describing offerings as low as 150 kbit/s as broadband and when the lower relative costs of these highly contended products were taken into account, e.g. £360 per annum rather than £3,600 it was extremely difficult to persuade many educationalists and even many in the IT industry of the advantages of constantly available uncontended high-bandwidth.
and the attendant discussion. In the first wave, local authorities in eight regions were deemed to have submitted successful bids and granted a share of a total of £35 million of funding in 2000. There were two successful submissions in the North West, one from Cumbria and Lancashire and another from the majority of unitary authorities in the south of that region. Bids from the North-East, from Yorkshire and Humberside, from the East Midlands, East of England, South-East and South Western regions were also accepted. Unsuccessful bids were submitted by the West Midlands local authorities, by councils in the London area and those in the Bristol area.
By a mysterious process for which no one has ever taken responsibility, or dared to defend, seven councils which were not participants in successful bids were also funded. Thus was born surreptitiously the principle of 'opting out'. There were three of these in the North West, three in Yorkshire and Humber and one, Oxfordshire, in the South. Had the fourteen in the West Midlands, the thirty-three in London and the half dozen in the Bristol area been made aware of this back door procedure for obtaining funding there is little doubt that they too would have opted out of the DfES official process.
In the following year (2001), this funding farce was abandoned and all council education services received broadband grants as an element of their NGfL earmarked grant for ICT. So in 2001 new RBCs came into being in the West Midlands WMnet
and London (LGfL), while the Bristol area councils joined South Western Grid. Participation in RBCs was strongly encouraged by the stipulation of the funding arrangements that the council's right to retain and spend the funds for broadband connectivity was conditional upon their participation in an RBC. Councils which did not participate in an RBC were required to devolve the funds to schools, though there was a lack of clarity on what that meant and even less clarity on whether anything like it actually happened.
The funding level had now (2001) risen to an aggregate £44 million pa. At a meeting on 27 September 2001, the leading NGfL officer, Doug Brown, formally requested the ten RBC managers to produce a plan for connecting up their networks. At least one of the RBCs, WMnet
, had no network to connect, but the policy remained. After some discussion, the RBC managers agreed to interconnect their regional networks by peering with the universities' JANET
network. Councils were required to connect either through membership of an RBC or through their own peering arrangements, though once again there were no mechanisms for monitoring compliance with these requirements and no penalties for those councils which refused to comply. These regional networks connected through the SuperJanet backbone form the communications infrastructure of the nationwide collaboration which came to be known as the National Education Network (NEN)
The RBCs have worked collaboratively since 2001 and have since been actively joined in their partnership by equivalent organizations in Northern Ireland (C2KN), Scotland (Glow) and Wales (NGfL Cymru). Key partners in RBC activities have been Becta
and JANET
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, under the auspices of what was then known as the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) National Grid for Learning
National Grid for Learning
The National Grid for Learning was a United Kingdom Government-funded gateway to educational resources on the Internet. It featured many individually selected links to resources and materials deemed to be of high quality...
(NGfL) programme. The NGfL title was subsequently dropped in favour of 'ICT in schools' and more latterly is referred to by the title 'Harnessing Technology' from a recent department publication. Since 2007 the functions of the DfES have largely passed to the new Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...
(DCSF). Their purpose was to secure lower prices for broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
connections and services for schools by aggregating demand across a region and entering into region wide contracts.
2 Mbit/s
The Regional Broadband Consortia collectively subscribed to a 2 Mbit/s standard for broadband, for which the origins in the 1990s are unclear. It is not the case as has been often alleged that the RBCs created or imposed this standard on English schools, though they were active in reinforcing and publicising the standard. Though it did not appear clearly stated in the NGfL funding guidance until 2003, this standard had been inherited from various fore-running projects including the People's Library Network. 2 Mbit/s was possibly selected with a view to encouraging the use of optical fibre to the site.Despite frequent challenges, particularly from the telecommunications industry and the dominant national carrier, which held a monopoly outside the urban areas, the RBCs managed to defend the 2 Mbit/s standard against much cheaper emerging ADSL alternatives. Some providers were describing offerings as low as 150 kbit/s as broadband and when the lower relative costs of these highly contended products were taken into account, e.g. £360 per annum rather than £3,600 it was extremely difficult to persuade many educationalists and even many in the IT industry of the advantages of constantly available uncontended high-bandwidth.
History of the RBCs
In 1999 the one hundred and fifty or so upper tier English councils responsible for providing a schools' education service were provided with small sums of money (about £150 000 per region) to submit bids to create regional consortia in order to implement a schools broadband connectivity programme. For an explanation of why these councils once were occasionally known as LEAs and are no longer see LEALocal Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
and the attendant discussion. In the first wave, local authorities in eight regions were deemed to have submitted successful bids and granted a share of a total of £35 million of funding in 2000. There were two successful submissions in the North West, one from Cumbria and Lancashire and another from the majority of unitary authorities in the south of that region. Bids from the North-East, from Yorkshire and Humberside, from the East Midlands, East of England, South-East and South Western regions were also accepted. Unsuccessful bids were submitted by the West Midlands local authorities, by councils in the London area and those in the Bristol area.
By a mysterious process for which no one has ever taken responsibility, or dared to defend, seven councils which were not participants in successful bids were also funded. Thus was born surreptitiously the principle of 'opting out'. There were three of these in the North West, three in Yorkshire and Humber and one, Oxfordshire, in the South. Had the fourteen in the West Midlands, the thirty-three in London and the half dozen in the Bristol area been made aware of this back door procedure for obtaining funding there is little doubt that they too would have opted out of the DfES official process.
In the following year (2001), this funding farce was abandoned and all council education services received broadband grants as an element of their NGfL earmarked grant for ICT. So in 2001 new RBCs came into being in the West Midlands WMnet
WMnet
WMnet is the tag name for the West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium, an association of local councils in the West Midlands of England created under the aegis of the Department for Education and Skills National Grid for Learning Programme in 2001....
and London (LGfL), while the Bristol area councils joined South Western Grid. Participation in RBCs was strongly encouraged by the stipulation of the funding arrangements that the council's right to retain and spend the funds for broadband connectivity was conditional upon their participation in an RBC. Councils which did not participate in an RBC were required to devolve the funds to schools, though there was a lack of clarity on what that meant and even less clarity on whether anything like it actually happened.
The funding level had now (2001) risen to an aggregate £44 million pa. At a meeting on 27 September 2001, the leading NGfL officer, Doug Brown, formally requested the ten RBC managers to produce a plan for connecting up their networks. At least one of the RBCs, WMnet
WMnet
WMnet is the tag name for the West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium, an association of local councils in the West Midlands of England created under the aegis of the Department for Education and Skills National Grid for Learning Programme in 2001....
, had no network to connect, but the policy remained. After some discussion, the RBC managers agreed to interconnect their regional networks by peering with the universities' JANET
JANET
JANET is a private British government-funded computer network dedicated to education and research. All further- and higher-education organisations in the UK are connected to JANET, as are all the Research Councils; the majority of these sites are connected via 20 metropolitan area networks JANET...
network. Councils were required to connect either through membership of an RBC or through their own peering arrangements, though once again there were no mechanisms for monitoring compliance with these requirements and no penalties for those councils which refused to comply. These regional networks connected through the SuperJanet backbone form the communications infrastructure of the nationwide collaboration which came to be known as the National Education Network (NEN)
The 10 English RBCs
| Cumbria and Lancashire Education Online | CLEO |
| East of England Broadband Consortium East of England Broadband Consortium The East of England Broadband Network is one of 10 Regional Broadband Consortia set up by the UK Government to help raise standards in teaching and learning by the use of broadband technology.... |
E2BN |
| East Midlands Broadband Consortium | embc |
| London Grid for Learning London Grid for Learning The London Grid for Learning provides a filtered broadband connection, network services, a common learning platform, online content and support communities for all schools across London. It operates as a consortium of 33 Local Education Authorities. It was launched in June 2000, and provides... |
LGfL |
| Northern Grid for Learning | NGfL |
| North Western Grid for Learning | NWGfL |
| South East Grid for Learning | SEGfL |
| South Western Grid for Learning | SWGfL |
| West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium | WMnet WMnet WMnet is the tag name for the West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium, an association of local councils in the West Midlands of England created under the aegis of the Department for Education and Skills National Grid for Learning Programme in 2001.... |
| Yorks & Humber Grid for Learning | YHGfL |
The RBCs have worked collaboratively since 2001 and have since been actively joined in their partnership by equivalent organizations in Northern Ireland (C2KN), Scotland (Glow) and Wales (NGfL Cymru). Key partners in RBC activities have been Becta
Becta
Becta was a non-departmental public body ] funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, in the UK It was a charity and a company limited by guarantee. In the post-election spending review in May 2010, it was announced that Becta was to be abolished...
and JANET
JANET
JANET is a private British government-funded computer network dedicated to education and research. All further- and higher-education organisations in the UK are connected to JANET, as are all the Research Councils; the majority of these sites are connected via 20 metropolitan area networks JANET...
.