Crown-owned technology provider for schools, The Network for Learning (N4L) says it has entered into partnerships with five private sector companies to deliver the Te Mana Tūhono connectivity programme for the Ministry of Education.
TMT involves designing, procuring, replacing supporting Wi-Fi networks in schools and kura across New Zealand, and N4L described it as "one of the largest IT projects in the country."
Announced in 2020 by the government, TMT will see a $49 million expansion to cover all state and state-integrated schools, giving them the opportunity to upgrade their ICT network equipment and to access cybersecurity support by next year.
N4L will partner with managed IT services providers TTS, MB3 in Rotorua, Isometric Solutions in TItirangi, Wellington's GoCloud, and Entity Hub in Manukau.
The join N4L's panel of 10 existing IT services providers for schools.
Chief executive of N4L Larrie Moore said the provider's partners play a pivotal role in delivering new and upgrading existing products and services, having worked with schools and built the trust of principals over many years.
All state schools are connected to N4L's managed network with more than 825,000 students and teachers using it on a daily basis.
The monthly data volume generated by N4L's managed network is 5.2 million gigabytes, which the provider said accounts for about a quarter of New Zealand's day time Internet traffic.
