Uni students will be the first in Australia to get free HSDPA & WiFi while the wheels on the bus go round and round.
In an Australian first, Vodafone, in partnership with Monash University, is fitting internet access to some of its regular inter-campus buses. The Internet access will be free for students who choose to log on via Wifi on their computers or phones, and will be delivered to the buses via the Vodafone 3G HSDPA network.
According to Monash Uni, buses shuttle up to 60,000 students a year between the Clayton, Berwick and Peninsula campuses and the average travel time between campuses is about 40 minutes.
Monash University's Deputy Vice Chancellor Adam Shoemaker said 'the initiative demonstrated the University’s commitment to embracing the latest e-learning technology for students, and the University is continually looking at ways to take learning beyond the campus and to provide our student with flexible study options in keeping with global trends.'
While Internet access for students will allow additional studying and assignments to be done on the bus, there's no doubt that some students will use the time to do 'non-essential' surfing, like say, updating a Facebook profile, adding messages to a Twitter stream, or even watching a YouTube flick.
In fact, with unlimited Internet access, the daily bus commute could even turn into download fest with Vodafone providing the bandwidth for students to download lecture podcasts amongst other things. Missed a TV episode? Download it on the bus on the way to the lecture.
The initiative is part of the 'Wireless Everywhere' project which aims to create a seamless wireless coverage across every part of Monash campus within 18 months.