The NSW government has signed a deal with MessageLabs for antispam and antivirus to be used across all free public Internet terminals in libraries as well as local NSW councils.

The deal has been struck with NSW.net, carrier for online services for NSW local governments. NSW.net is managed by the State Library of NSW.

NSW.net has purchased 5500 user licences of MessageLabs antispam and antivirus.

NSW.net is responsible for more than 700 PCS across more than 368 public libraries.

Joyce Azzopardi, manager of NSW.net, said there is no need for staff to ensure patches are downloaded to computer terminals or to manage security stations individually.

"Rather, We occasionally make an adjustment via a common interface, thereby freeing staff for the far more important tasks involved in running a library," Azzopardi said.

"The number of licences allows us to deliver a scalable solution as the number of library users and computers continues to grow.

"Even more encouraging and exciting has been the growth of rural link and the extension of this service to libraries and councils further afield, who until recently didn't have access to such a high-quality, filtered broadband service."

The Rural Link project began in 2001 to provide broadband access to selected small and remote communities across NSW. By the end of September 2004 Rural Link had implemented and built 191 buildings in 75 rural NSW towns.

Almost all Rural Link towns have since upgraded to ADSL; however initially they were based on using one-way satellite with ISDN back channel and 802.11b wireless for delivering broadband.