Sierra Leone: Project Giga collaborates with the government to connect 117 schools to the Internet
April 5th 2022
Of the more than 10,000 schools in Sierra Leone, only around 150 have reliable internet access. Thanks to Giga, the government wants to connect as many schools as possible to the Internet in order to give young people access to information and opportunities.
Giga, an initiative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunications Union (IUT), which aims to connect every school to the Internet in collaboration with the Sierra Leonean government, wants to provide connectivity services Internet to public schools to increase access to digital learning. The two partners launched a request for proposals (RFP) for this purpose on Thursday 31 March.
The first 117 public establishments to be selected as part of this project will each have at least one access point. Each hotspot will have a capacity of 200 simultaneous users, unlimited data volume and a minimum bandwidth of 10 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.
“ Giga will only pay for the last mile equipment needed to connect schools and monthly service fees. Secondary link costs should be incorporated into the monthly cost of service delivery. If Solution Providers do not own secondary backhaul infrastructure, they must clearly demonstrate that they have one or more partnerships established with secondary backhaul infrastructure owners and have entered into specific rate agreements. ‘use to meet the needs of the project ,’ read a statement.
UNICEF wants bidders to consider schools that are rural, remote and hard to reach. At least 20% of the list of schools to be connected must be establishments that do not have electricity and are located at least 30 km from the fiber optic nodes.
The Sierra Leonean government joined the Giga initiative in 2019 as part of its ambition to connect around 11,000 schools to high-speed internet, seeing the opportunities the internet offers in education. A first request for proposals had been launched in August 2021 and aimed to connect at least 120 schools through sustainable business models. The initiative is also present in other African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Once selected, suppliers will benefit from a long-term agreement for a minimum of 2 years with the possibility of extension for an additional year based on a positive evaluation. Suppliers are expected to develop and deploy innovative and affordable solutions to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to schools for an initial period of 12 months.
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