BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - May 28, 2009) - The
University of Queensland is working with
Cisco (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) to become Australia's most connected tertiary
institution, deploying the largest 802.11n wireless network in the world to
create a unique collaborative environment. The university is also deploying
the largest tertiary
Cisco
TelePresence™ network in Asia Pacific to facilitate international and
cross-campus collaboration. This network also includes the 7 millionth
Cisco wireless access point
deployed worldwide.
The University of Queensland is one of Australia's premier learning and
research institutions. The university serves close to 38,000 students from
more than 110 countries and has around 15,000 staff, 774 buildings and four
major campuses, with another 45 sites throughout Queensland, including two
islands in the Great Barrier Reef region of Queensland. By providing a
seamless connected campus experience previously unseen in a university
environment, this multimillion-dollar investment will transform the
academic experience for students and staff.
Nick Tate, director of information technology services and AusCERT at the
University of Queensland, said, "This significant network upgrade will
help the University of Queensland enable our vision of a connected campus
environment, filled with mobile students and teachers communicating and
collaborating at anytime from wherever they happen to be. The flexibility
this provides means busy students will be able to more easily keep up with
university demands whilst staff will have a world-class network to support
their teaching, research and administrative endeavours. The University of
Queensland is extremely proud to be leading the way, internationally, with
this substantial technology investment."
The network, coupled with advanced mobility and video technologies, will
eliminate physical barriers and encourage flexibility by providing
students, teachers and staff with access to university resources anytime,
anywhere from any device. With 4,000 Cisco Aironet® 1520 and 1140 Series
802.11n wireless access points across campuses, including those on the
'City Cat' ferry in Brisbane, students will be truly mobile with
next-generation ubiquitous access to resources whether they are at home, on
campus or traveling to and from the university.
Using the network as the platform for communication and collaboration,
students will no longer be tied to lecture rooms or libraries, allowing
them to access and download classes, recorded lecture materials and other
resources from laptops, iPhones or other smartphones, wherever and whenever
is convenient for them.
This unprecedented network access and connectivity will also bridge the
geographical divide between the main campus and the university's remote
locations. The network will extend to the university's working mine site at
Indooroopilly, the marine research centre on Herron Island, 80 kilometers
off the coast of Queensland, and the agricultural and veterinary science
campus located in Gatton, also situated 80 kilometers away from the main
campus at St. Lucia.
The implementation of the largest Cisco TelePresence network for education
in the Asia Pacific region will facilitate improved learning outcomes and
teaching experiences by fostering collaboration between local university
campuses and overseas institutions. The ultra-high-definition video Cisco
TelePresence technology, which allows for live face-to-face interaction
over the network, will be used across the multiple university campuses to
deliver remote lectures and enhance personal contact for students and
teachers in the more remote locations. Cisco TelePresence will also provide
researchers with better mechanisms for collaboration and innovation by
disseminating research to extended teams on university campuses and other
education and research institutions.
Les Williamson, vice president of Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said,
"We are continuing to evolve the relevance of ICT to deliver 21st-century
teaching and learning outcomes. This Cisco network will help the University
of Queensland further enhance its reputation as a leader in changing the
way education is delivered. It is a great example of the kind of real world
benefits which can be achieved when an overall architectural approach is
taken to provide an environment where students and teachers connect, share
and collaborate."
To meet the demands of such a large and diverse deployment, the University
of Queensland selected the Cisco 802.11n wireless solution for its
reliability and performance. Its notable features include Cisco's
innovative M-Drive technology, which enhances 802.11n performance while
simplifying the ongoing operations of the wireless network.
Built on an intelligent network optimized for rich media by Cisco services,
the ultra-high-definition video implementation includes four Cisco
TelePresence System 500 units and two Cisco TelePresence System 3,200 units
-- the first deployment of its kind for education and learning in Australia
and New Zealand. The Cisco TelePresence System 500 seats two participants
for virtual face-to-face meetings, and the Cisco TelePresence System 3,200
seats up to 18 participants in the room.
Technorati Tags: Cisco, Aironet, 802.11n, TelePresence, Wireless,
Video Conferencing, Video, Australia, Services
About Cisco Systems
Cisco (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at
http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Australia is provided by
Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems,
Inc.
Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, Cisco TelePresence and Aironet are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective
owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership
relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco
Public Information.
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Contact Information: Press Contacts:
Linda Horiuchi
Cisco
+ 61 2 8446 6343
lhoriuch@cisco.com
Carly Wright
Kinetics Pty. Ltd. for Cisco
+ 61 2 9212 3848
carly@kinetics.com.au
Claire Groves
University of Queensland
+61 7 3365 4169
c.groves@uq.edu.au
