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A Montreal-based supplier of broadband interactive video communications equipment today announced that federal education officials in the United States are making it easier to bring its products to educational institutions here.

 

According to HaiVision Systems Inc., which mainly serves telecom carriers, service providers, and video systems integrators, the company’s video networking products are listed as “E-Rate” by the U.S. Department of Education – meaning that, with federal funding, schools seeking to deliver live video and video-on-demand into a classroom have easier access to them.

 

Mirko Wicha, president and chief executive officer of HaiVision (News - Alert) Network Video, called the listing “exciting” because it helps the company put stronger video networking technology and tools into the hands of schools, faculty members, and students that might not otherwise be able to afford them.

 

“As libraries and educational institutions look at best approaches to adopt leading technology within restricted budgets, they now have the opportunity to take advantage of our market-leading solutions at a fraction of the actual cost,” Wicha said.

 

Specifically, the company said, qualified institutions can get up to 90 percent of E-Rate product costs funded by the government program. As a result, HaiVision’s resellers now can offer customers aid in configuring systems and writing funding requests.

 

Created in 1997, the E-Rate program is designed to ensure that schools and libraries have affordable access to advanced telecommunications services. Under the program, eligible institutions can receive discounts of up to 90 percent on telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections, subject to a $2.25 billion annual cap.