Exeter Uni set for £5.5m wireless makeover

Exeter University has embarked on a £5.5m campus-wide wireless network rollout.

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The university's IT department is working with networking company Juniper - along with Aruba and Nortel - to get the wireless network up and running over the next two years.

The upgrade will give students ubiquitous access to the University's online services as well as allowing them to view lectures over the web either live or at a later date and take part in internet tutorials.

For international students, the network should eventually enable them to call home for free using IP phones and even view TV programmes in their home countries.

A spokesman for the university told silicon.com: "It's certainly not about moving away from needing classrooms but it's just about making sure we can tailor our contact hours and our student experience to the method of learning that suits them the most."

The network will also help the university's research efforts by making collaboration and sharing of information easier.

There will be other benefits of having the network out of term time, according to the university. "With this new ubiquitous wireless it's going to make us a really attractive option in the South West for people to come and have conferences at our facility," the spokesman added.