By Business & Finance 
Ireland’s National Education and Research Network (HEAnet) has awarded a seven-year contract worth €5m to Irish-owned network integrator Agile Networks.
The contract will replace HEAnet’s existing network, which connects education and research organisations throughout Ireland.
HEAnet’s e-infrastructure services underpin education and research activity in Ireland with approximately one million people relying on the HEAnet network each day for their learning and research needs.
Headquartered in Dublin, Agile Networks is the largest independent network integrator in Ireland. It was founded in 2011 to design, build and support IT networks for the private and public sectors.
The rollout will take place over an 18-month period to 200 locations nationwide with five years support.
John Boland, HEAnet’s chief executive, said: “This investment represents a milestone in HEAnet’s commitment to continuously improve connectivity for our member institutions. Our on-going challenge is to ensure that we provide access to the same sort of Internet connectivity for education and research as anywhere in Europe. We achieve this through the provision of a ultra-high bandwidth, multiple gigabit network, which is dedicated for use solely by our education and research clients.”
Darragh Richardson, managing director of Agile Networks, added: “This contract will deliver a nationally significant project and facilitate the rollout of shared ICT services and collaboration within and across the education and research sector. We look forward to working with HEAnet and our partners at Juniper Networks to ensure that Ireland’s reputation as a world-class place to study and develop research is enhanced.”
