University of Tsukuba Creates Campus 'Hotzone' with Nortel Wireless Mesh Network Enabling Wireless Broadband Access to Internet and University Online Resources
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TOKYO, May 29 / The University of Tsukuba, one of Japan's major national universities, is creating a 'hotzone' to provide seamless and secure anywhere, anytime communications for students and faculty using a wireless mesh network solution from Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT).
The wireless mesh network will cover a 230,000 m2 area of the campus and enable outdoor broadband wireless access to the public Internet and the university network. Students and faculty will be able to use laptops and handheld computing devices to access online and university resources as well as applications such as wireless VoIP. In-building wireless access for colleges, dormitories and other facilities is planned as part of future network expansion. Nortel business partner Marubeni Solutions Corp. is handling network implementation.
"The availability of wireless broadband access across our campus will dramatically improve the research environment for our student body and teaching staff," said Dr. Kozo Itano, director of Academic Computing and Communication Center, University of Tsukuba. "It will also support our efforts to evolve Tsukuba into a highly creative university with a stronger international presence."
"Being selected to deploy our first university campus wireless mesh network in Japan at such a prestigious institution as Tsukuba is a significant milestone in enhancing the educational experience for students in this country," said Nick Vreugdenhil, president, Japan, Nortel. "Our solution makes wireless access simple and is ideal for universities. It offers students, faculty and other authorized users a highly flexible, scalable and secure wireless environment, indoors and outdoors, while providing the university with a more cost-effective platform for continuing evolution of eEducation services."
Nortel's Wireless Mesh Network solution uses wireless links to connect access points installed inside or outside to provide secure, seamless access to wireless broadband services. This solution allows enterprises, such as universities, to install wireless LANs in areas where it is difficult or cost- prohibitive to run cables. This innovative approach is designed to reduce the complexity and cost of deploying a traditional wireless LAN.
The University of Tsukuba will deploy 24 Nortel Wireless Access Point 7220 links to provide secure, seamless campus-wide outdoor access to wireless broadband services, with indoor access enabled by Nortel's Wireless Access Point 7215 units in the next phase of deployment. Security for the University's wireless communications is designed into the network by installing Wireless Gateway 7250 units to control the area between access points. Because the solution uses IEEE 802.11 standards, users with Wi-Fi enabled laptops or handheld computing devices will be able to access the university network or Internet without new hardware or software.
Nortel's wireless mesh network solution continues to attract growing interest among universities around the world, with deployments at Jinan University in China, Seowon University in Korea, Edith Cowan University in Australia, and Arkansas University in the United States. The solution is also in field trials at Taiwan National University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Our next-generation technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people with information. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit nortel.com/news.
Source: Nortel
CONTACT: Sachi Murakami, +81-3-5740-1749, smurakam@nortel.com;
Christie Blake, (978) 288-8439, christbl@nortel.com
