Cheap internet access for schools

New Plan to Get Schools Online

Oftel said that after negotiations within the industry, it believed a deal could be worked out so that BT would be able to charge in the region of £665 per year for an unlimited connection. That would bring the cost for schools of hooking up to the internet to around one pound per pupil -- similar to that offered by many cable companies.

The arrangement is intended only for schools, and not for commercial use.

Hands on technology

Oftel's director-general, Don Cruickshank, said he hoped the framework for the deal would be agreed by September, so that schools could start taking advantage of the scheme early next year.

Mr Cruickshank told a London news conference: "Arriving at a solution means that everyone wins -- schools, because they are better able to exploit an important educational resource, our children because they are better equipped for the future, and the communications industry, because they will be strengthening links with an important market and helping a new generation use communications technology effectively."

The move was welcomed by the Government. The President of the Board of Trade, Margaret Beckett, said the Government remained committed to wiring up schools as quickly as possible. "We must ensure that children have access to such services so that their future employability is increased," she said in a statement.

Blair's vision of technological revolution for schools

"The plan to have agreement in the coming academic year is testimony to the commitment that all the interested parties have in achieving the Government's objective."

The plan to link all schools to the internet has been championed by Tony Blair as part of his vision for a technological revolution in education. Labour's election manifesto said the party had secured agreement with BT and cable companies to wire schools, libraries, colleges and hospitals to the internet, keeping charges "as low as possible."