This would represent a leap forward on earlier efforts by the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) to encourage aggregation of schools network demand and so gain broadband access at cheaper prices. UKERNA operates the JANET academic network, used by the UK's higher and further education institutes.

The plan, bringing in schools, is nicknamed SuperJANET. The government wants 20 per cent of schools connected at broadband speeds of 2 Megabits/sec or more by the end of this year, but a national hub could surge past that target as schools learn the advantages from one another.

At Futurelab's recent Contagious Creativity conference in Bristol, Andy McLeod, UK Education Manager for Cisco Systems, said: "We're stimulating the market, accelerating it by about 24 months. Left to its own devices, you've got schools who'd rather spend £10,000-£15,000 on a leaking roof, you've got teachers who can't see the point of a fatter pipe because Key Stage 3 isn't there. We're trying to speed up connection to get more people on."

Cisco has pledged to provide network equipment free to RBCs, though they will have to supply their own telecommunications line and other equipment needed at their end. It is also lobbying big content providers, such as the BBC, Granada and Channel 4, to join the new network - thus ensuring that schools have access to high-quality content. This would in turn provide a fillip to NGfL plans for a national schools content portal.

Front-line teachers at the Futurelab conference appeared only modestly enamoured of broadband, but others argue that there will be many as yet unrecognised advantages. Costly ISDN lines, at just 128 Kilobits/sec, will give way to always-on, high-speed connections; video streaming and webcasting will become standard; the use of IP packets would mean usage was effectively free.

At the same time, such a development could provide a major stimulus to the UK's software industry, drawing in new players to the education market. And it would be a major incentive for the emergence of the interactive, high-speed applications that Futurelab itself is beginning to prototype.


Hugo Davenport can be contacted at hugo1@btclick.com

Contagious Creativity conference overview