The University
of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) is a nationally recognized university with
15,000 students located on 2,000 acres between Monterey Bay and the Silicon
Valley. UCSC is the single largest employer in Santa Cruz County and generates
$1 billion annually in local economic activity and has an annual operating
budget of $400 million.
"The 6 microcell NextG network we are installing will increase coverage and fill deadzones in a difficult area, without hazardous emissions or large capital costs."
Ed Titus, UCSC Telecommunications Manager
Facts
- 15,000 students, 519 faculty, and 30,000 university extension registrations
- Area covers 2,000 acres in the coastal hills with dense foliage and Redwood trees
- 7 of 10 students and 9 of 10 faculty and administration have cell phones/wireless device
- Land lines in every dorm get minimal to no usage
- No towers or cell sites on campus due to community opposition; 2 nearby cell towers provide poor coverage
Challenges
A challenging
geography combined with large-scale opposition to traditional tower sites
by both the City of Santa Cruz and UCSC community required a wireless solution
that was unobtrusive, very low power yet ubiquitous enough to cover the
majority of the campus inside and out.
- Poor wireless coverage both inside and outside campus facilities.
- No budget for improving wireless coverage.
- Located in difficult terrain for RF.
- Community opposition to wireless sites.
- Student and faculty dependence on mobile phones.
NextG Solution
NextG Networks
provides a turn-key solution to UCSC by designing, implementing, monitoring
and maintaining a campus-wide multi-carrier network The network is a 6
microcell network that capitalizes on the campus' existing fiber optics
and supports ubiquitous coverage using unobtrusive, low power antennae.
Benefits
- Distributed architecture throughout campus provides maximum coverage and capacity
- No cell phone towers necessary
- No capital cost to UCSC because NextG and carriers pay for the network
- One single point of contact for all wireless carriers
- Improved coverage for emergency calls
- Provides a reasonable revenue stream to UCSC and an economical cost model to the carriers
Typical Network Topology
