I had the opportunity last week to attend the launch of Christchurch’s new network company, Enable Networks. I  had hoped to be able to have blogged earlier about this rather exciting event, but have had to wait until today to find the first public news release about it in the local media. (I’m sure if there was a negative slant to the story it would have made the headlines 🙂 ) Unfortunately neither the Enable website or CDC’s website had any press releases available either 🙁

Today’s story in the National Business Review confirms what we heard announced last week, however! Christchurch, through Enable Networks, has received a $30M+ boost from the City Council to expand the city wide fibre network beyond the existing 100km of fibre it already has around the city. The good news is that schools will be a key target of this roll-out, with all 160-odd schools in the Christchurch metro area expected to have fibre at their gate in three years (there are currently 70 that do!)

This, combined with the budget news of a $34M boost for school access to high-speed broadband has made me a very happy  person! Now the real work begins – to ensure that all parts of this jigsaw are properly aligned, and that the vision of a network developed with the philosophy of an ‘open’ architecture can be realised, and that our school leaders will step up and take leadership in terms of determining the nature of the services that can be developed to ensure this network is used in new and exciting ways to enahnce the education of kids in our schools, and ensure they are well prepared for life in an increasingly connected world!