DARMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth said on April 13 that it began deploying the first university-based long-range mobile wireless broadband network on the East Coast.
It is the second campus in the nation to have WiMAX connectivity; Northern Michigan University was the first and is partnering with UMass to make the deployment possible.
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The university will equip 350 students and faculty members with WiMAX technology in order to test it during the spring semester. It is expected to be fully operation by the fall.
Students, faculty and staff will have WiMAX access anywhere on campus and within two miles of the campus bell tower, the institution said.
Plans for the system include allowing students to link to a Virtual Computer Lab, providing access to licensed software. Eventually, the university may expand the system to satellite sites in New Bedford, Fall River, Fairhaven and Cape Cod, and offer access to local government agencies, it said.
UMass Dartmouth said that a traditional Wi-Fi system could have cost $2 million while leveraging the campus’ broadband wireless spectrum licenses initially cost less than $100,000.
