AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Microsoft News

FreeFi Networks Leads Coalition to Provide Enhanced Wi-Fi Service to Roxbury Community College

BOSTON, April 17 PRNewswire — FreeFi Networks (http://www.freefinet.com), a Los Angeles-based company offering content and advertiser supported Internet access, today announced the launch of upgraded Wi-Fi service at Roxbury Community College located in Boston, Massachusetts. The launch brings a newly installed and enhanced Internet experience to students, faculty and staff of the college.

The "FreeFi University" prototype was successfully concept-tested at Bentley College during 2007, and then customized for Roxbury Community College with specific educational, social and entertainment content to create a unique experience for the college.

FreeFi and Roxbury Community College are partnering with Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Experience Inc. to increase the coverage and the speed of the current Wi-Fi offering to over 4X and at the same time have created a loaner laptop program, enhanced career service access and direct access to the MDSN Academic Alliance and Microsoft IT academy. The ultimate goal is to create a state of the art technology offering at Roxbury that is also financially self sustaining.

"There are currently one billion people with internet access in the world and that number is growing every day," noted Richard Bogen, managing director of FreeFi Networks. "This alliance adds to that number by providing all students at Roxbury with free Wi-Fi internet access as a key enabler to help prepare them to compete and participate in the global economy."

FreeFi Networks in conjunction with their technology partner Front Porch has created a custom persistent Roxbury Community College side bar, so that the school can place social, educational and promotional content at the student's fingertips.

Roxbury Community College is the first member of a five school pilot partnership with Microsoft to evaluate the impact created by combining ubiquitous internet access with education enhancing resources for all students. Microsoft's core student resources, MSDN AA and IT Academy will be integrated into the FreeFi University experience. MSDN Academic Alliance provides students with free access to technical tools for uses such as development, project management or web design while Microsoft IT Academy allows students to obtain in-depth training. This powerful combination delivered over FreeFi's network directly to students enables them to get the hands-on skills and practice that they need to succeed in today's technology careers. In addition, students can earn certification on a number of Microsoft applications through this program.

Working with Experience.com, the first web-based college recruiting platform, students can connect directly with thousands of information technology (IT) career opportunities. Through the Experience.com network, Microsoft's community of 10,000 partner companies can easily post jobs or internships and find Microsoft-certified personnel that match their IT work-force needs.

FreeFi's partnership with Experience, the nation's leading provider of career services for college students and alumni, also allows students to connect directly with thousands of career opportunities in various industries. Students interested specifically in technology careers can join the Microsoft Students to Business (S2B) community (http://s2b.experience.com) and benefit from access to IT jobs and internships as well as unique training and certification opportunities. Through the Experience network, Microsoft's community of 10,000 partner companies can easily post jobs or internships and find Microsoft-certified personnel that match their IT workforce needs.

"While the digital experience divide is typically viewed as a global issue, it also affects Americans of diverse backgrounds here," said Dr. Terrence A. Gomes, President of Roxbury Community College. "FreeFi Networks is helping to close this divide by providing its services to students that may otherwise not have access."

FreeFi Networks is available at Roxbury Community College's main buildings and plans to expand to the whole campus over time.

About FreeFi Networks

FreeFi provides free Wi-Fi access services while driving revenue to host venues, which will include airports, hotels, convention facilities, college campuses, chain restaurants, shopping centers and cafes. The private, closely held company is led by media and business professionals with background in online and traditional advertising, wireless infrastructure, real estate and technology and has offices in Los Angeles and Fort Lee, New Jersey.

About Roxbury Community College

Roxbury Community College is a co-educational public institution of higher education offering Associate Degrees and certificate programs. RCC's primary objective is to provide residents of the Commonwealth, specifically those individuals living in the greater Boston area, "optimum opportunity for access to a college education consistent with their interests and aptitudes and to reduce to a minimum economic, social, psychological and academic barriers to educational opportunity." The college's goals are the result of ideas generated by and from the college community and reflect a response to the needs of the larger Roxbury community. A community-based Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts works with the College's President to ensure that Roxbury Community College is an effective educational institution providing a strong vehicle for the community to grow and prosper.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

About Experience

Experience is the only university-endorsed career network bridging the gap between college and the working world. Since 1996, we have partnered with universities to educate, assist and inspire college graduates to launch and lead extraordinary careers. Each year our award-winning network connects millions of candidates from 3,800 colleges and universities with more than 100,000 employers.

About HP

HP is a technology company that operates in more than 170 countries around the world. We explore how technology and services can help people and companies address their problems and challenges, and realize their possibilities, aspirations and dreams. We apply new thinking and ideas to create more simple, valuable and trusted experiences with technology, continuously improving the way our customers live and work. No other company offers as complete a technology product portfolio as HP. We provide infrastructure and business offerings that span from handheld devices to some of the world's most powerful supercomputer installations. We offer consumers a wide range of products and services from digital photography to digital entertainment and from computing to home printing. This comprehensive portfolio helps us match the right products, services and solutions to our customers' specific needs. For more information, please visit http://www.hp.com.

About Front Porch, Inc.

Front Porch, Inc. is the worldwide leader in advertising and customer messaging solutions for Internet providers. Our solutions are deployed worldwide in wireless, cable, telco, and other Internet Service Provider networks, including publicly-listed Internet providers in five countries, free-hotspot.com, and JiWire's Mobile Broadband Advertising Network. Installation venues also include wireless hot zones, conferences, airports, coffee shops, shopping malls, train stations, resorts, universities, commuter hubs, sports centers, and tourist attractions. Front Porch is a privately-held company founded in 1998. Front Porch served over 4.6 Million subscribers in 2005 and served over 7.5 Million subscribers in 2006. See http://www.frontporch.com.

SOURCE FreeFi Networks

Send this news item to a friend.

Print This Page

Search Our News Using Google Search

Can't find what you want? Try using Google:

Google