On college campuses, the YouTube generation is watching videos online, playing their game systems and using Skype to talk to family and friends back home. At the same time, professors are using online videos and other resources as tools to give students the latest information on course topics. To stay ahead of increasing Internet-usage demands, Mount St. Mary’s University and Stevenson University are two of Airband Communications Inc.’s higher education clients using the company’s fixed-wireless data services.
Mount St. Mary’s University, home to 1,500 students and located an hour from Baltimore and Washington, in the foothills of the Catoctin Mountains in Emmitsburg, Md., chose Airband as its Internet provider because it needed additional high-speed Internet access for faculty, staff and students. The company’s fixed-wireless data services at Mount St. Mary’s transmits data directly to its campus via Airband’s wholly owned, last-mile fixed-wireless network.
“With the majority of our students living on campus, it’s vital that we have the bandwidth to support students’ Internet needs for their personal use, including Netflix, Hulu and their gaming systems, because we want them to have the same resources here as they do at home,” said Bobby Flack, chief information officer at Mount St. Mary’s University. “Our network can scale on-demand to meet usage needs, without having to run packet-shaping devices or restricting access of any applications.”
Flack said that universities are increasingly leveraging hosted applications, such as email and course management systems, to enhance student and faculty services with added features and functionality. Mount St. Mary’s has a second campus in Frederick, Md., and Airband provides a point-to-point high-bandwidth wireless circuit that interconnects the two campus locations so the Frederick campus can connect to the university’s VoIP system and trusted applications without a VPN arrangement.
Like Mount St. Mary’s University, Stevenson University chose Airband’s fixed-wireless data services when it needed additional bandwidth. Located near Baltimore in Stevenson, Md., the university is using Airband’s high-speed Internet to support classroom needs, student entertainment activities and online classes.
“Whether it’s a professor using a streaming video in their lecture or teaching an online class reaching students all across the world, the Internet is integral to the delivery of education,” said Thomas Allen, chief information officer at Stevenson University.
Officials from Mount St. Mary’s and Stevenson say they use Airband’s fixed-wireless Internet access because it is a scalable alternative to wireline options. Airband delivers Internet access through its wholly owned, fixed wireless network, which bypasses the local phone and cable infrastructure, meaning universities don’t have to pay the additional cost of a local loop.
Airband serves 17 markets across the U.S. including Atlanta; Austin; Baltimore; Dallas; Des Moines; Fort Lauderdale; Fort Worth; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Orange County, Calif.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Antonio; San Diego and Washington, D.C.
