Telecom rolls out the stars for schools

By PETER GRIFFIN

Telecom boss Theresa Gattung may be loosening the company purse strings to give more money to schools, but the students crowding into the Papakura High School hall yesterday were there to see NZ Idol popstar Ben Lummis and All Black Doug Howlett.

Telecom put on a lavish PR event to trumpet the fact it has upped its School Connection programme by $1 million to $10 million a year. Students from schools throughout the country - and Prime Minister Helen Clark - patched in via video-conference to watch Lummis.

School Connection sees communities contribute points to their schools based on the size of their Telecom bill. The points are redeemed for communications discounts and computer equipment.

Telecom has put $94 million into the scheme in the past decade, to the benefit of 5782 schools.

Having picked up over half of the regional contracts in the Government-funded Project Probe scheme, which aims to get high-speed internet access into all schools, Telecom is in the front seat as far as serving the education sector. As the schools move to more expensive broadband products, their communications spend will increase.