University offers students WiMAX

Motorola responsible for infrastructure

The Home & Networks Mobility business of Motorola and Northern Michigan University (NMU) today launched the school’s new mobile WiMAX network built with Motorola wireless broadband infrastructure.

The start of this new high-speed campus-wide wireless broadband service coincides with the 10th anniversary of the school’s laptop program. NMU is the only Michigan university that provides WiMAX-enabled laptop computers to all students as part of their tuition and to faculty and staff employed at the school.

With this rollout NMU becomes the first university in the U.S. to deploy a fully functional Motorola WiMAX network. At today’s kick-off event nearly 3,000 of the school’s more than 9,000 students received new WiMAX-enabled laptops. Students, faculty and guests also had the opportunity to experience WiMAX on the go — including video chat sessions — through demonstration of students using WiMAX in multiple off-campus sites.

In the near future Motorola WiMAX devices, including the USBw 100 USB adaptor (dongle) and desktopCPEi 150 and CPEo 450 will be available to students and others with older laptops so they, too, can connect to the WiMAX network. The mobile network currently consists of four sites with plans to expand to seven locations. Backhaul for the WiMAX network is provided by Motorola’s point-to-point wireless broadband solution.

“We selected Motorola for this project because of its leadership position in deploying WiMAX networks worldwide,” said Dave Maki, NMU chief technology officer. “We had an aggressive timeline and were confident they could meet our needs. With our new WiMAX network, NMU is providing greatly enhanced wireless broadband coverage across a 30-mile radius. Through our Educational Broadband Service license we’ll also provide high-speed wireless broadband access to local school and municipal offices – extending the benefits of WiMAX broadband to our entire community.”