Wellington welcomes ‘offsite campus’ to CBD

A partnership between REANNZ and CityLink is providing students, researchers and staff with an 'offsite campus' in Wellington's CBD.

'eduroam', for which REANNZ has the exclusive New Zealand rights, is now available to users  via CityLink's central city wi-fi network.

CityLink was the obvious partner for the project, says Steve Cotter, CEO of REANNZ.

"By extending the eduroam footprint beyond institutional boundaries, we're turning Wellington's CBD into an offsite campus for the global knowledge community.

"This will help our city's libraries, museums, cultural institutions and even cafés become key building blocks to a borderless, educated society.

eduroam enables students and academics from 5000 participating insitutions in nearly 70 countries to use a secure roaming internet access service.

All New Zealand universities and an increasing number of research institutes and polytechnics already have eduroam, with REANNZ now working to extend off-campus access.

Initially a pilot was run by REANNZ and CityLink to test their concept. The three-month trial extended eduroam into one of Wellington's busiest streets, Cuba Street.

"Pretty soon we were seeing over 2500 unique eduroam users enjoying unlimited Internet access from the central city," Cotter says.

"Wellington's buzzing education community is now being complemented by CityLink's Wi-Fi network.

Wellington's eduroam wi-fi zone includes The Wellington Golden Mile extending from Courtenay Place, Manners Street, Willis Street, and important landmarks like Wellington Central Library, TSB Arena - Shed 6, Michael Fowler Centre, St James Theatre, City Gallery and Wellington Cable Car Terminals.

Nick Willis, CityLink CEO, says that wi-fi is essential for the student community.

"Wi-Fi devices like smartphones and tablets have proliferated and with it the demand for uncongested quality internet access and CityLink can provide plug and play solutions for high quality Wi-Fi Zones anywhere in New Zealand.