Contact: Bob Ratliff
There's something new in the air this week at Mississippi State.
When classes began Monday, the university, in partnership with Cellular South, inaugurated a digital telephone cell site--the first of its kind actually in operation in the Southeast. The site was constructed by Cellular South at no cost to the school.
With antennas installed atop Scott Field's west stands, the MSU Cellular Network also became one of a very few campus-based systems nationwide that is up and running.
"The network uses a technology known as private system identifier or PSID," said MSU telecommunications director Tom Lindsay. "The system operates as a private wireless telephone system encompassing the entire Starkville campus.
"When users leave campus, their phones automatically become a part of the Cellular South network," he added.
Lindsay said the new system "greatly enhances" wireless telephone coverage on the Starkville campus by providing improved building penetration and eliminating "dead spots" where hand-held phones have not been able to operate. Per-minute charges for internal campus calls also are eliminated.
MSU Telecommunication personnel are busy converting departmental cell phones to the new system, with personal service for faculty and staff to be added around Oct. 1. Individual student plans may be available by the spring term.
"The demand for wireless voice service has grown dramatically, but limitations in coverage and per-minute costs have kept us from realizing the technology's full benefit," Lindsay said. "The new MSU-Cellular South system addresses both of these issues."