October 10, 1995 Contact: Francine Tyler (408/459-2495)

UC SANTA CRUZ HOOKS UP TO NEW WIRELESS COMPUTER NETWORK: STUDENTS TO SURF THE INTERNET FROM THE GREAT MEADOW, UNDER THE REDWOODS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Thao Vo found new freedom last year in a little black box the size of a television remote control.

A senior at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Vo used this little box and his laptop computer to hook up to the Internet from a bench outside the Science Library, from atop a rock at the Upper Quarry, and from his room in a campus residence hall.

"The same things I would go to the computer lab for, the modem could do," said Vo, who helped test a new wireless computer network for UCSC. "I put the computer in my backpack a lot-- I felt really free."

Using a wireless modem, students--and later this year, faculty and staff--can zap signals from laptop computers to the campus computer network, enabling them to send and receive electronic mail, research a topic at McHenry Library, and explore the World Wide Web from anywhere in Santa Cruz.

The modems also offer faster Internet connection than conventional modems--and free up telephone lines. These advantages even make them desirable for those who use deskbound computers.

"UC Santa Cruz is at the leading edge in testing and using this new wireless technology," said Fred Siff, associate vice chancellor for Communications and Technology Services. "The technology should save the campus millions of dollars by eliminating the need to wire the residence halls for direct Internet access."

Perhaps more importantly, it will better suit students' lifestyles than traditional computing, he added. "Using a computer should be fun," Siff said. "You should not have to go into a dark basement and sit next to a wall in order to do computing."

The campus completed a nine-month test of the wireless system, known as "Ricochet," in June. Ricochet was developed by Metricom, Inc., a ten-year-old company based in Los Gatos. In what Siff describes as a partnership between UCSC and Metricom, the Silicon Valley company installed the network at its own cost, anticipating UCSC and the campus community would pay for modems and the service.

The wireless modem uses radio waves to connect users' computers with an Internet service provider: in this case, UCSC's computer network, which is accessible to students, faculty, and staff. Sent by the modem, radio signals pass to radio repeaters mounted on top of campus buildings. The signals then "hop" between repeaters before entering a wired access point where they are carried via UCSC's high-speed data transmission lines to the Internet. More than 50 transmitters perch on UCSC's rooftops, each the size of a shoe box.

The technology should allow UCSC to avoid wiring its more than 50 residence halls with data transmission lines, a project that is estimated would cost more than $4 million, said Elise Levinson, an assistant director at Housing Services. Such costs are usually passed to students through higher room-and-board rates. By offering the wireless service, UCSC is asking only those students who use the technology to pay for it.

To launch the program this fall, Housing Services purchased 150 wireless modems and made them available to students living on campus. The students agreed to pay $19.95 a month to Metricom for the use of the wireless service. Other on-campus students and those living off campus may purchase modems for $199, plus pay for the service. Faculty and staff will be able to buy modems and tap into the service by the beginning of the new year, Siff said.

Those at UCSC who don't want to purchase the Metricom modems or pay for the service may either dial into the campus network from home over relatively lower-speed telephone lines, or go to one of the ten campus computer labs for a direct--and much faster--Internet connection.

These alternatives have been available for several years, but are in high demand, Siff said. With 65 percent of incoming freshmen owning personal computers, the labs and 130 telephone lines for Internet access are usually swamped. Offering students wireless modems is seen as a way to ease the pressure on labs and telephone lines.

Erin Thomas was one of fifteen students from Crown and Merrill colleges who helped test the wireless system starting last November. She found the wireless modem and portable computer she borrowed to be invaluable.

A computer and information sciences student, Thomas used the modem roughly twelve hours each week to communicate with classmates, teachers, and teaching assistants, and to do her programming homework, she said. Thomas believes if she hadn't had the wireless modem, she would have needed to get an additional phone line. And she wouldn't have completed her work as easily.

"My classmates had wire modems and had all sorts of problems," Thomas said. "I was always able to get on-line."

During the system pilot, roughly 30 rooftop transmitters carried the modem signal over a triangular area encompassing Crown and Merrill colleges, McHenry Library, and the Communications Building, Siff said. Since then, Metricom has installed additional transmitters on campus and on Santa Cruz streetlights, extending coverage throughout the campus and city.

The company plans to set up transmitters in Monterey and in every major city--and most small cities--in the San Francisco Bay Area, from as far north as Walnut Creek to as far south as Gilroy. Networks at nine other campuses--including UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo--are expected to be complete by the end of the year. Next year, Metricom plans to extend service to five additional college campuses.

Editor's note: You may reach Fred Siff at (408) 459-2435 or via e- mail at fsiff@cats.ucsc.edu. Elise Levinson may be reached at (408) 459-2275 or at elisel@cats.ucsc.edu. Cherie Stewart of Wilson McHenry Company is coordinating press contacts for Metricom. She may be reached at (415) 638-3400 or at cstewart@wmc.com.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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