MELBOURNE, Australia - January 19, 2005 - Cisco Systems® has teamed up with the Victorian Department of Education & Training to deploy the largest wireless local-area network (WLAN) in the Asia Pacific region, for Victorian public schools. This initiative, known as the Wireless Networks for Schools (WiNS) program, will equip more than 1,600 Victorian public schools with high-speed, wireless access to information, including Internet and intranet resources with industry-leading security.

The $A6 million WiNS program is being implemented by the Victorian Department of Education & Training, Cisco® and IBM-Logicalis, in conjunction with a team of approximately 340 field technicians contracted by the Department. The WiNS program will support the Department's Notebooks for Teachers and Principals Program, which provides 38,000 Victorian teachers with notebook computers and training in technology.

Minister for Education Services, Jacinta Allan, said the Wireless Networks for Schools initiative will improve the ability of schools to use information and computer technologies, providing more flexible, mobile and creative approaches to learning with and about computers.

Working with systems integrator IBM-Logicalis, Cisco was able to offer the scalability, security and centralised management capabilities on its wireless devices that the department needed to provide wireless networking on such a large scale and within its budget requirements.

Cisco is supplying 9000 Cisco Aironet® 1200 Series access points across more than 1,600 schools. The Aironet Family is fully compliant with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards for wireless networking. The 1200 Series also supports a wide variety of client types, which was an important consideration for the Department because schools across the state use diverse operating systems on personal computers and servers.

The Department of Education's security regime for the wireless network will integrate with the Cisco access points and help ensure that users can authenticate on their network. This feature will help prevent unauthorised users from using the schools' Internet capacity.

General Manager for the department's Information Technology Division, Katrina Reynen, said, "Providing wireless devices for schools builds on Victoria's position as a leader in the use of ICT to enhance learning. This fine balance of innovative flexibility and high-level security provides the ideal next generation of supportive technology for government schools."

Cisco Australia and New Zealand managing director, Ross Fowler, said; "Wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular at schools around Australia because they provide exceptional freedom for users. The Victorian Department of Education & Training is taking a visionary approach to WLAN by deploying it across thousands of schools."