January 1, 2007

Campus cell phone service enhanced

Cell phone service has been improved with the addition of micro cell antennas across the campus to provide signals for Nextel and Sprint. 

Nextel service had been somewhat limited on the west side of campus because of the trees and because the Nextel cell tower is on the northeast edge of campus.

With the addition of new micro cell antennas at Oakes, Porter, Theater Arts, Baskin, Natural Sciences 2, and TAPS, Sprint/Nextel service has been greatly improved across the campus, according to telecom manager Ed Titus.  

"Before the sites were turned on, there was no service inside the new E2 building; today there is a strong signal on my Nextel cell phone," Titus said. "I expect that to be the case in many areas of the campus where there was little or no signal.”

The micro cell antenna network supports four cell phone providers: Cingular, T-Mobile, Nextel, and Sprint.  "By January we are hoping to add Verizon service as well," Titus said. The Verizon implementation was scheduled to be under way between Christmas and New Year.