[Cu-wireless] Full text of "OneCleveland" Wireless Initiative Press Release:

[Sascha Meinrath]

Here's the full text:

Case Unveils Nation's Largest Free, Public Wireless Service 




   OneCleveland Project to Link University Circle to Greater Cleveland 
Area

    CLEVELAND, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In what could be the largest public
wireless service in the world, Case Western Reserve University is opening 
more
than 1,230 Cisco Aironet 1200 wireless access points Sept. 1, providing 
free
Internet access to faculty, students, staff and visitors.
    "This is the first phase of blanketing Cleveland with free wireless
Internet access -- a project we call OneCleveland," said Lev Gonick, vice
president of information technology services and chief information officer 
at
Case. "We are working with our industry partners, Cisco Systems and 
Sprint, to
complete the wireless network across University Circle, providing wireless
access to everyone who comes to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland
Museum of Natural History, or any of the other cultural and educational
resources in the neighborhood."
    Adding to a network already 10 to 100 times faster than most other
universities, this level of connectivity is made possible with Cisco 
Aironet
wireless technology and the University's Cisco Gigabit Ethernet and 10 
Gigabit
Ethernet network based on Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 4000 
Series
Switches. With one of the fastest local area networks built on Cisco
networking equipment, faculty, staff, students and visitors gain maximum
mobility and flexibility as they take advantage of voice and streaming 
video
applications, access to e-curriculums and other University services from
virtually anywhere on campus or in University Circle.
    "Cisco is proud to be a part of this far-reaching, community-based
wireless effort by Case Western Reserve University," said Christine 
Falsetti,
director of wireless and mobility for Cisco's Product Technology and 
Marketing
Organization. "We're excited about this effort because we believe 
anywhere,
anytime access provides for a more collaborative and flexible environment 
for
learning."
    OneCleveland is committed to creating a seamless, digital 
infrastructure
for the residents, businesses and institutions of Northeast Ohio. The
program's objectives include:
     -- Empowering individuals for personal and economic opportunities
     -- Enhancing education and training opportunities for students and 
adults
     -- Helping cities and counties to provide services in new ways
     -- Supporting the delivery of world-class health services
     -- Expanding opportunities for educational and cultural institutions 
and
        neighboring communities
     -- Creating and linking area networks to take advantage of 
efficiencies
        of scale to boost regional capacity for these activities.

    "The network we are designing is a way for Case to reach out to the
community and connect the University and Greater Cleveland into one 
cohesive
whole," said Gonick. "In order to fulfill our vision of becoming the most
powerful learning environment in the world, we need to start at home and
become a force for change and improvement in our city and region."
    Tim Mueller, chief development officer for the city of Cleveland, 
praised
the new effort and said the city understands how the growing power of 
wireless
provides its citizens with enormous opportunities.
    "The vision of OneCleveland, to connect, enable and transform our city
through leveraging what is possible when we are all connected is a message
that rings true for all of Cleveland," Mueller said. "This is an exciting
vision that extends the hand of partnership between Case and the regional
community outside of University Circle."
    In addition, design students at the Cleveland Institute of Art, in
collaboration with students at the Case School of Engineering, are 
developing
global positioning systems (GPS) applications incorporating text, video,
audio, and even speech recognition, to allow students and visitors to take
self-guided tours around University Circle using their own personal 
digital
assistants (PDA).

    About Case Western Reserve University
    Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of an institute of
technology and a liberal arts college, Case is distinguished by its 
strengths
in education, research, and service. Located in Cleveland and offering top
programs in Social Sciences, Engineering, Management, Law, the Arts and
Sciences, Nursing, Dentistry and Medicine, Case provides one of the most
powerful learning environments in the nation. The university is counted 
among
the leading research institutions in the world.