The Loop is a high speed fibre optic network that delivers the Internet, Internet services and educational resources to the Nelson region’s schools.

Following the development of our business case, the very successful concept launch, the ‘proof of concept’ success the last 'Roll Out' stage has begun.

The Loop models bandwidth management and intranet development that can deliver the magnitude and sophistication of services that will be required to meet the demands of the next decade’s ‘digital classroom’ and extensive multi media environment.

This is a local initiative and is the first time New Zealand schools have had the opportunity to collaborate to implement a network of this scale.

‘The Loop’ began as a collaborative effort between Network Tasman, Torque IP, the Ministry of Education and leading Nelson educational institutions.
Now nearly 30 organisations are supporting this ground-breaking initiative.

We want the Loop to be a vehicle through which all interested educational and commercial interests can seek synergies rather than replication, cooperation rather than competition.
With this project there will be more options coming on line than are currently available from alternative networks and it will help to increase cooperation between all the schools in the region.

It is planned that The Loop will become a significant and sophisticated entity operating as a self-funding and self-sustaining commercial concern.

Governance of The Loop will be ‘by schools for schools’ by way of an elected Trust who will ‘own’ The Loop – and an expert board of Directors who will oversee its development and ongoing management.

One of the difficulties of ICT infrastructure development in NZ schools has been the lack of robust and tested models.
Now we have a model for that next big step up in ICT sophistication where schools’ ICT capacity will grow through regional, cross-sector collaboration.

Empirical evidence
The Loop has published this evidence both via The Loop's web site and PDF documents.
A copy of some of these documents that are not displayed freely on the Loop's web site will be forwarded to awards@tuanz.org.nz in PDF format.
Please note that some of these documents are still under embargo or commercially sensitive.

• Web based ...
  • The Loop public web site has a variety of links to supporting documentation.
  • Technical Review
  • List of Loop schools
  • Services offered by the Loop
  • The 'Connections' project
  • A recent magazine article
  • Other news clippings
• Reports ... (to be emailed)
  • Torque IP report (PDF format) (under embargo) ( This report was commissioned by TorqueIP - AKA Connector Systems - The Loop's main contractors))
  • Internet incoming international traffic report (The rest of the traffic is free to Loop schools)
  • The Loop's own CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis)
  .

‘The Loop’ began as a collaborative effort between Network Tasman, Torque IP, the Ministry of Education and leading Nelson educational institutions. Now nearly 30 organisation's are supporting this ground-breaking initiative.

We want the Loop to be a vehicle through which all interested educational and commercial interests can seek synergies rather than replication, cooperation rather than competition.
This means utilizing all existing resources and opportunities such as the MOE video bridge, Probe initiatives, the Advanced Network, the establishment of a Nelson Internet Exchange (NIX) and other regional initiatives.

The unique design of the region’s Probe roll out has afforded a highly effective mechanism by which The Loop can reach every outlying school in Nelson and Marlborough, if needed.

The Loop will support Probe by offering an extensive range of services to these schools, by achieving better economies of scale and through the significant support that Probe schools will inevitably receive from their bigger Loop partners.

Our extensive analysis of the ICT capabilities, commitment and expectations of the Nelson region’s schools confirms that existing models cannot meet existing needs, let alone future aspirations.
The analysis found that schools are spending around $2 million per year on telecommunications for often inferior services. Our business case, based on overseas experiences, indicates potential savings of 20-80% depending on the level of uptake of Loop services.

In theory, such savings could fund The Loop development.
The timeframe and service requirements of each school will be quite different.
Furthermore, access to the much enhanced services will raise user demand exponentially and schools will have to reinvest any savings in internal support.

Similar projects are starting in The North Shore Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington Central.

The loop is a network of Networks - a collaboration - a model for the future - where schools must go!

The Loop will offer a competitive alternative to commercial models by providing significantly cheaper, faster, more responsive and more educationally valid digital services and resources.

Effectively the project will use the buying power and expertise of the Nelson’s secondary schools and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) together with that of our commercial partners to leverage better digitally-based services for all Nelson students.

What can be said is that after the 18 to 24 months of its establishment, we believe the Loop will be self sustaining.

We don’t see the Loop just serving schools.
We are keen to discuss ways of supporting local iwi educational aspirations, and this infrastructure could accommodate a number of virtual private networks for non-profit organisation's.
It is also envisaged that The Loop will expand to offer services to community-based initiatives such as hosting the ‘Connections’ database.
With Network Tasman fibre extending to Blenheim The Loop will also grow inclusively with a Marlborough school’s network.