Minnamurra Public School will not be connected to the National Broadband Network for several years despite the fact the fibre cable runs past the school.A five-year contract between the NSW Education Department and Telstra means no government schools in the state are likely to join the high-speed network before 2014.A department spokeswoman said schools had been advised not to connect at this stage.Kiama Downs and Minnamurra are among the first areas to hook up to the NBN, which is already live at about 400 homes. Infrastructure required for the Minnamurra school to be connected is understood to be in place.The department spokeswoman said the deal with Telstra had been in place since 2009 and the existing network supported about 400,000 computers in more than 2660 sites statewide."The network reliably delivers advanced technologies such as video-conferencing and rich digital teaching and learning objects to schools," she said."At present, the National Broadband offerings, including its interim satellite service, do not match our current standard and breadth of services."As a result, schools have been advised not to connect to the NBN at this stage."She said the department examined potential opportunities and "may" look at connecting in the future. It would continue to monitor services offered over the $36 billion network.The Mercury understands the department has already investigated how NBN services compare with the Telstra deal.Minnamurra Public School principal Warren Grosse said his school was happy with its existing internet services and had simply assumed it would be connected because it fell within the first release site."We were getting pretty excited and I thought what a great opportunity to be a leading school in that particular area," he said.He understands government schools can opt to join the network at their own cost.Nine schools nationwide have already been connected, including government schools in South Australia and Tasmania and Armidale in NSW."As we are in the early stages of the roll-out, many school systems will be in the same position as individuals and need to consider existing contractual commitments when looking at an NBN connection," an NBN Co spokeswoman said."The NBN is a 9?-year project, so state governments will have other connection contracts in place to serve those areas not yet in the NBN service area."NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli did not respond to Mercury inquiries.