Device Arena

AT&T today announced a new agreement with The University of South Carolina (USC) to provide Wi-Fi access at the University’s Columbia, S.C., campus. AT&T and the University will equip more than 160 buildings across the campus, as well as outdoor spaces, with high speed wireless broadband from AT&T Wi-Fi Services. The move will connect more than 30,000 students, faculty, staff and guests.

With the increased use of online learning resources and social networking among students, faculty and staff, as well as the popularity of mobile applications, college campuses have great demands for bandwidth. The campus wide Wi-Fi service will provide hotspot zones and allow Wi-Fi enabled devices to access its network.

“We have a rich history of providing the best educational tools for our students and support for our faculty and staff, so AT&T was a clear choice for us because of their experience and expertise in offering premium Wi-Fi service,” said Harris Pastides, USC President.

“We are truly excited to offer the USC campus community the opportunity to stay connected to what’s important to them, whether it’s a late night study session, an online lecture, class registration, or social networking with other students from across the globe,” said Xavier Williams, AT&T Senior Vice President for GEM Markets. “AT&T Wi-Fi provides the broadband coverage and 24/7 connectivity that college campuses require.”

From university campuses to corporate campuses, Wi-Fi is an efficient and effective way to provide broadband coverage to link sites of any size. The University’s Wi-Fi network will provide public Internet access for students, faculty, staff and guests and carry University Intranet traffic. The deal also includes transport for their broadband network.

“USC has been helping young people connect with their futures for more than 200 years,” said Pamela Lackey, President, AT&T South Carolina. “We are thrilled to have been selected to join the University in this project to open new connections across the campus and beyond.“

AT&T Wi-Fi Services will provide round-the-clock network monitoring for the University and a complete turn-key managed Wi-Fi network service, including site survey, design, installation, monitoring, repair, maintenance, and warranty of equipment. AT&T will be the University’s primary source for Wi-Fi network needs.

The agreement comes on the heels of AT&T’s second quarter results, noting that it handled nearly 15 million Wi-Fi connections on its network – a 41 percent increase over the first quarter. With approximately 25.6 million connections so far in 2009, AT&T Wi-Fi connections this year have already surpassed the 20 million connections seen in all of 2008.

AT&T