ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home & Networks Mobility business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Northern Michigan University (NMU) today celebrated and made history by launching the school's new mobile WiMAX network built with Motorola wireless broadband infrastructure. The start of this new high-speed campus-wide wireless broadband service coincides with the 10th anniversary of the school's laptop program. NMU, a comprehensive, masters-level university in Marquette, Mich., is the only Michigan university that provides WiMAX-enabled laptop computers to all students as part of their tuition and to faculty and staff employed at the school.

With this rollout NMU becomes the first university in the U.S. to deploy a fully functional Motorola WiMAX network. At today's kick-off event nearly 3,000 of the school's more than 9,000 students received new WiMAX-enabled laptops. Students, faculty and guests also had the opportunity to experience WiMAX on the go -- including video chat sessions -- through demonstration of students using WiMAX in multiple off-campus sites.

In the near future Motorola WiMAX devices, including the USBw 100 USB adaptor (dongle) and desktop CPEi 150 and CPEo 450 will be available to students and others with older laptops so they, too, can connect to the WiMAX network. The mobile network currently consists of four sites with plans to expand to seven locations. Backhaul for the WiMAX network is provided by Motorola's point-to-point wireless broadband solution.

"We selected Motorola for this project because of its leadership position in deploying WiMAX networks worldwide," said Dave Maki, NMU chief technology officer. "We had an aggressive timeline and were confident they could meet our needs. With our new WiMAX network, NMU is providing greatly enhanced wireless broadband coverage across a 30-mile radius. Through our Educational Broadband Service license we'll also provide high-speed wireless broadband access to local school and municipal offices - extending the benefits of WiMAX broadband to our entire community."

In a region like the Upper Peninsula that traditionally relied on lumber and mining to fuel its economy and now must provide educational opportunities for new types of employment, many workers are unable to attend a traditional college campus. Consequently, reliable, affordable wireless broadband access is a key component to educating the state's workforce.

"With this mobile WiMAX network, NMU and Motorola are pushing technology forward to bring the many benefits of WiMAX broadband access to students and faculty and to foster economic growth in the region," said Dave Wangrow, senior director, WiMAX product management, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. "Wireless broadband - and Motorola's WiMAX networks - truly are connecting the unconnected whether in developing countries or in rural areas in developed countries."

NMU, with its laptop program and providing campus-wide WiMAX coverage, is setting a noteworthy precedent for universities especially for campuses located in rural areas throughout the U.S. Areas that present certain geographical challenges have historically been inaccessible for wireless broadband Internet service. Due to these challenges, students at such facilities are forced to work via a fixed connection which limits their mobility and by extension their educational experiences.

Motorola provides a full end-to-end WiMAX broadband solution that extends beyond just the infrastructure to the IP core, operations and maintenance, full services portfolio and customer premises equipment. For more information about Motorola's WiMAX solutions please visit: www.motorola.com/wimax.

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to high-definition video and mobile devices, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $30.1 billion in 2008. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.

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SOURCE Motorola