Twenty-one sites, including 15, schools will soon be provided with upgraded internet service through an initiative of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
The NTRC, a state entity, recently signed a contract with telecommunications company Flow for the second school’s project in St. Vincent and the Grenadine.
Director of the NTRC, Apollo Knights said the project is for some EC$2.5 million.
The first NTRC school’s project was commissioned on June 6, 2012 by Flow at a cost of EC$5.2 million. Knights said the reduced cost of the second phase of this project is because of the access points that were already laid out from the initial project.
Acting Country Manager of Flow, Andrea Liverpool said this project is an important one since it supports the company’s broadband expansion strategy and aligns to their commitment to deliver a high-quality broadband service.
Liverpool added that Flow will continue to support government’s strategic initiatives.
With higher speeds and a lower cost, there is now only one connection per school over the hybrid network provided by (Flow) Columbus. Under this new contract, the 21 new sites will have fibre connections.
The 15 school sites are: Campden Park Secondary, Bishop’s College Kingstown, Dr. J P Eustace Memorial, Girls’ High School, Intermediate High School, St. Joseph’s Convent Kingstown, St. Martin’s Secondary, St. Vincent Grammar School, Thomas Saunders Secondary, St Mary’s Roman Catholic, C.W. Prescod Primary, Kingstown Preparatory School, and the three campuses of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College.
Other sites include: the Kingstown Public Library, Documentation Centre, open spots at Heritage Square and SVG Port Authority.
Users will obtain upload and download speeds of 100 Mbps.
The 21 new external access points and 13 internal access points under this project will bring to 249 the total external access points and 136 internal points throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The duration of this new project is five years.