The ministries of Economic Affairs and Education supported the construction of project Wireless Testbed with a grant of about two million euro. Lagemaat is happy that the Executive Board (CvB) has 'accepted' the subsidy and added another two million euro. The project can now go ahead officially.
According to Lagemaat, the planning is that the first of 500 transmitters for the Wireless Local Area Network will be installed this summer. By the end of the year all transmitters should be in place. 'Transmitters will be installed both in the buildings, and at a distance of about 200 to 300 meters around the buildings. That should ensure optimal use', Lagemaat thinks.
The WLAN-transmitters respond to ICT-equipment with a so-called 'plug-in card', which functions as an antenna. 'Using WLAN, it is possible to access information on the internet or communicate by e-mail, chat or video-conference wherever you are', Lagemaat says. 'Naturally we would like to find out which technology will be used in the future: WLAN or UMTS. That is why we're going to do some experiments with UMTS in a bunker. It's all a bit secretive. The Dutch telecommunication company KPN has spent billions on UMTS-frequencies, and they don't want us to abscond with them.'
The project leader wants the Bastille to be the first to participate in the experiment. The new Student Union building will receive the first transmitters, probably the newest types which transmit at 54 megabits per second, instead of 11 megabits per second with current types. 'Wireless Testbed makes a lot of things possible. Apart from speech and entire meetings, electronic information can be exchanged and transferred directly to a projector.'
The experiment is also open to businesses. That is why the new infrastructure will not only encompass the campus, but also part of the adjoining Business & Science Park and several other locations in Enschede. For this wireless experiment, the university co-operates with the Telematics Institute, the Development- and Investment Company for Overijssel (OOM) and various other companies andinstitutions. The new infrastructure will be connected to the Dutch-German Internet Exchange (NDIX) near the campus.
