Campus Wireless Means Faster Downloads

Written by Adam Gosling

Monday, 23 April 2007

BigAir ISP, Star-Tech are servicing the staff and students of three Australian Universities with wireless broadband after traditional fibre optic service providers couldn't deliver on time. The ASX-listed wireless broadband specialist, BigAir Group, has teamed up with ISP, Star-Tech to supply three Australian University campuses with wireless broadband. In the case Queensland's Griffith University, the decision to go wireless was made because that was the only way to get a speedy deployment says the Managing Director of Star-Tech. "If it wasn't for BigAir, the students at Griffith might still be waiting for their Internet connection," said Richard Parker Managing Director, Star-Tech Communications. Parker describes how BigAir stepped in to help at Griffith University Village earlier this year when traditional suppliers were unable to supply a broadband service to the village quickly enough to meet student demands. "Since BigAir has a carrier-grade wireless broadband network, they were able to install the high-speed broadband connection within just a few days - beating other suppliers hands down on speed, service and pricing," he says. Broadband networks with speeds up to 10Mbps are now running in the student accommodation villages at Macquarie University in Sydney, RMIT University in Melbourne and Griffith University in Queensland. The new installations are not just fast, they cost up to 40 per cent less than competitors' copper and fibre-optic offerings, claims BigAir. To date, nearly 1,500 student dorms have access to the combination of BigAir's reliable wholesale symmetric broadband and Star-Tech's automated in-building distribution, on-line subscription and billing, and help desk services. Star-Tech engineers its triple-play capable solutions using a complex combination of proven technologies to deliver into often-difficult campus environments.  Together they offer students unlimited pre-paid and post-paid Internet access packages. Griffith University campus will soon also be Wi-Fi enabled. BigAir CEO, Jason Ashton said that high-speed broadband access was crucial for students in today's learning environment. "Whether students need to be more involved in online learning, use video conferencing to collaborate with other students, lecturers, universities or even tap into international experts to help them excel, reliable high speed broadband is the only way forward." "BigAir is pleased to be a provider of broadband services to these students. It's rewarding to be in a position where we can help these students get ahead. They could be on the verge of unveiling tomorrow's cure for cancer or even the next wireless technology breakthrough!" Ashton added. In July last year BigAir acquired W Home, a subsidiary of E-Pay (which was once SkyNetGlobal) whic specialised in delivering broadband services into the the multi-unit dwellings market. The systems distributes access throughout the building using VDSL and Ethernet. www.bigair.com.au www.startech.com.au Related news items Tiny Rugged UMPC WIth Vista -10/10/2007 Consumers Want FMC: Companies Don't See The Benefit -02/10/2007 Nokia Buys Map Company For US$8 Billion -02/10/2007 Seven In Unwired Takeover Bid -26/09/2007 Ultra-Mobile Sales Ready To Rocket -16/09/2007 Newer news items IDC Paints Picture Of Fierce Mobile Competition -11/07/2007 Who Next? Where Next? For Apple's iPhone -05/07/2007 Vodafone HSDPA Stretches To Brisbane -05/07/2007 Telstra Offers Pre-Paid On NextG -23/05/2007 First BB Now Optus Goes Down -24/04/2007 Older news items Aussie Bush Could Get Second 3G Network -16/04/2007 Railroad Gets Its Own 3G Coverage -03/04/2007 Disruptive Bundle Brings Skype To Mobiles -27/03/2007 Mobile, Not VoIP The Big Growth Area For Voice -16/03/2007 Opera Community On T-Mobile -15/03/2007 Tag This Now: