EMBC was the East Midlands Broadband Consortium. In 2008 embc became embc Procurement Limited (EMBCPL) a company limited by guarantee, EMBCPL is wholly owned by Derbyshire County Council, Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Northamptonshire County Council, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Rutland County Council.

EMBC company roles include:

To act as a price control regulator on behalf of the Local Authorities.
To provide schools with tools and services which are value for money and which enrich the schools educational agenda.
To manage the Agreement with the Service Provider.
To manage change control arrangements under the contract.

EMBC is a regional company that operates across the East Midlands, responding flexibly to the needs of Members’ in the provision of NEN connectivity and services

The DfES targets required all schools to be connected to broadband and the National Education Network by August 2006. Embc achieved connection of 98% of its schools to broadband during this time with just a few difficult to access schools connected via other means.

Costs per Mb are kept down through aggregated purchasing, and these have reduced over the past 7 years through better utilisation of the EMBC network both in its current structure, and its development making use of opportunities to reduce costs wherever possible.

EMBC is a local authority owned, not for profit company;

What are the benefits?