The Sydney Morning Herald reports on a new deal for Google to provide a free email service to schools across NSW. Said to be the biggest single client in the world for Google, they have managed to secure the contract away from the incumbent Microsoft system and will service up to 1.3 million new users for the Gmail service.

The NSW Department of Education has said that the new email system would be in place for the start of the 2009 school year and is a $9.5 million contract over 3 years. These costs cover the development of tight security options for the Gmail users and integrating the system for teachers and students within the existing education portal within the State. The attraction to Google is that students will become familiar with Gmail through the use at school and then continue to be users through their own accounts in later years.