On the demand side lies an increasing number of educational applications that are driving demand for increased bandwidth between information source and information sink. This of course is driving requirements for data pipes that can accept reasonable upload throughputs as well as downloads.
Wireless WANs are particularly appropriate in rural areas where a number of additional and unique challenges are experienced. Converged IP WAN
As many examples can attest, the introduction of a converged Wireless WAN is in many cases only the start for ten along a road that starts with a converged WAN, and leads to a whole host of radical new educationally based applications which can be introduced at low cost. Some examples are given below, but these are only some of the possibilities which we have encountered as applications over Wireless WANs.
- Voice Over IP (VoIP) - layer voice traffic over the WAN and drop voice call costs to almost zero
- Add Video Streaming over the WAN and deliver one lesson set to multiple audiences in different parts of the country.
- Add Video Conferencing and explore the opportunity to widen the learning experience and break down social barriers (one project in Ireland for example connected pupils with new pen friends on each side of the Border).
- Add CCTV cost-effectively to each educational site. CCTV applications have been shown to reduce bullying and petty crime whilst supporting learning targets by improving discipline in classes. Deployment costs are much reduced since wireless IP cameras can be added almost anywhere, and video can be backhauled across the county to a single monitoring site with costs spread across all schools in the region.
- Community engagement - Wireless WANs are unique in creating Points of Presence at every location they touch. Thus the local School, College or other Educational establishment can not only take part in a county-wide educational enhancement, but can also act as a stepping stone for the provision of connectivity into the community - be this simply Internet access, social inclusion project, or wider engagement of parents together with pupils in a vision of lifelong learning.
