There are now more than 40,000 smart phones, laptops, and desktop computers on the 37,000-student UMD campus.
“It was very apparent that [smart phones] would become common, once you realized the mobility war began,” said Sinha, a UMD campus technologist for 21 years, referring to commercial battles waged between cell phone companies during the nascent days of the smart phone. “It was very clear to us that this was going to happen, and that we needed to be prepared for it.”
IT officials throughout higher education have seen the number of web-ready phones skyrocket among students in recent years. About one in four students had a smart phone in February 2009, and almost half had a smart phone last summer, according to a survey conducted by a Ball State University (BSU) associate professor.
Nine of every 10 students who tote an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android around campus use the devices to access the internet, according to the BSU survey.
Smart phone presence on college campuses is expected to continue steady growth. A report released last fall by market research firm International Data Corp. showed that 119 million smart phones were shipped in the first half of 2010, up from the 77 million shipped in the first six months of 2009.
UMD’s network refresh project also will bring Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to students and faculty across the 1,250-acre university. Improving VoIP service would make teleconferencing available for faculty and staff members who need to connect to educators, researchers, and students in other states or countries, Sinha said.
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