The introduction of broadband networks, capable of transmitting speech, data and image signals, combined with advances in multimedia technology have served to encourage a number of distance learning initiatives in Spain over the last few years. One of the most important has been the Eduba project developed within the framework of the National Action Plan for Research & Development of Integrated Broadband Communications. The plan has received government funding of $45.7m and has occupied 522 persons per year. It was in 1992 that the Madrid-based application design companies Software de Base SA and Istel SA joined forces with ETSIT – the School of Telecommunications Engineers at the Polytechnical University of Madrid – to create a package of multimedia applications for a project that aimed to go beyond simply distributing information to stimulating a greater degree of social interaction in remote learning. The initiative sought to cover the whole gamut of distance learning possibilities, including tele-learning classes, group discussions and collaboration via teleconferencing, access to a remote resource center for self-study and, above all, interaction in real-time between students and teachers. Initially the Eduba project tested a local area network; a second stage employed local area and Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks installed at ETSIT. A client-server architectural model was followed, with end users working with 80486 or Pentium based personal computers under Windows, armed with the necessary hardware – communications boards, cameras, microphones, to transmit, receive and process multimedia information. A Unix station, acting as a server, was responsible for control, management and storage of the information. The final prototype of the remote learning service became available for demonstration in 1995, whereupon training centers, remote educational organizations, businesses and individuals were offered access to the service. According to its protagonists, Eduba has obtained results that can be applied in the short term to existing networks while the latest technologies can be incorporated as they emerge. ETSIT itself, the Ministry of Education & Science and the IMAF Training Institute in Madrid have all given several courses on the back of the project, in subjects such as technical English, powder metallurgy, neural networks and natural sciences.