Nokia and Midwest Wireless Establish Model Wireless Campus at Minnesota State University

Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone supplier, and Midwest Wireless will collaborate to create one of the first model wireless campuses in the Western hemisphere at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU). MSU will act as a wireless learning environment and a research and testing ground for future wireless professionals by enabling students to perform their daily tasks using mobile handsets and services.

Nokia has delivered mobile-messaging-capable Nokia 5100 series phones and will deliver 200 Internet-ready Nokia 7160 (tri-mode AMPS/ TDMA 800/TDMA 1900) phones to MSU faculty members and students. Nokia also will contribute a Wireless Application Protocol or WAP, server and WAP application developer toolkit. To provide maximum coverage on this model campus, Minnesota-based Midwest Wireless has constructed a cell site tower on the university grounds.

“With their generous contributions, Nokia and Midwest Wireless have shown themselves to be true friends of Minnesota State University,” said Richard Rush, president of Minnesota State University, Mankato. "Both companies are providing their equipment and expertise to help us reach our goal of becoming a world-class wireless institution. This cooperation enhances MSU's vision of becoming an operational wireless campus and provides great opportunities for our students and faculty. It emphasizes the role of our wireless education program as an important part of the entire wireless campus concept."

MSU has established significant wireless initiatives on campus over the past several years, including campus-wide laptop wireless capabilities, incorporation of wireless technology in the College of Business curriculum, remote facility wireless support, and an upcoming pilot with Midwest Wireless for a Local Multi Point Distribution System (LMDS), an emerging wireless broadband technology that may serve as a viable alternative to traditional fiber-based broadband solutions.

John Frey, Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at MSU added, “With Nokia’s and Midwest Wireless' know-how and contributions, we will be able to bring a variety of wireless services to the campus that will provide MSU’s wireless technology students with valuable hands-on experience. MSU wireless technology program graduates will be attractive candidates for both Nokia and Midwest Wireless, as well as the many other companies working in this rapidly growing field."

The information and experience gained by students using the equipment will be beneficial for all three organizations. With Nokia phones, MSU students will be able to quickly organize their class schedules and send and receive class registration information as well as mobile messages and e-mail. Nokia and Midwest Wireless will use feedback gathered from students and faculty to continue ongoing research efforts aimed at providing consumers with personalized wireless phones and services.

“We expect the students won’t be the only ones learning in this endeavor. We fully expect them to be teaching us as well,” Todd Hertzberg, vice president of sales at Nokia, said. “Nokia values highly the input from wireless phone users and always incorporates innovative features and functionality into our new phones with the consumer in mind.”

Midwest Wireless President Dennis Miller said feedback from MSU students will help guide future service offerings. “We’re interested to learn about how young adults will actually use small wireless devices for applications other than voice calls. This knowledge will help us in introducing services to other campus environments and the general public.”

About Nokia
Nokia is paving the way to the Mobile Information Society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, broadband and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokia's net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 60 000 people.

About Midwest Wireless
Midwest Wireless is a leading wireless services provider, operating in 68 counties of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, with nearly 180,000 customers. From the establishment of their original cellular phone service, Cellular 2000, in 1990 to the introduction of their digital phone service, ClearlyDigital, in 1998, Midwest Wireless has earned a solid reputation for being at the forefront of wireless telephone service innovation. In recent years Midwest Wireless has focused on providing innovative, leading edge services that utilize the company’s strong digital service network. In 1999 Midwest Wireless was the first to bring one-way wireless phone e-mail message delivery to many areas of the Midwest. Early in 2000 Midwest Wireless became the first rural provider in the entire nation to deploy two-way e-mail messaging, making it possible for consumers to not only receive, but also send messages from their digital phone to other digital phones or any e-mail address. Midwest Wireless is currently exploring a multitude of other telecommunications services and conducting research to determine their benefits to consumers.

About MSU
Minnesota State University, Mankato is a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate university located in southern Minnesota and serves over 12,500 students. The university offers 101 undergraduate programs and 72 advanced degree programs. MSU is a leader in providing wireless communication education and incorporating the technology across campus.

Further information:

Virve Virtanen, Nokia
Tel. +1 214 914 2145

Shelly John, Midwest Wireless
Tel. +1 507 385 2376

Karen Wright, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Tel. +1 507 389 6838