A US university tackled discrepancies in broadband access across its residences by tasking Boldyn Networks to provide a network which treats all buildings as equals.

The neutral host infrastructure player installed the network across 44 residences at Radford University in the US state of Virginia. Around 3,000 students are now being promised a consistent browsing experience through the institution’s ResNet service.

Matt Loecke, SVP for Higher Education with Boldyn Networks US, said the network takes “the day-to-day” off the plate of “an already stretched IT team” at the university.

Boldyn Networks explained it handles the everyday running of the network, enabling Radford University’s IT staff to focus on “initiatives including complex ERP and LMS transitions”.

It stated the IT team would likely also benefit as they work to deploy AI capabilities.

The company cited predictability as a key benefit for Radford University, highlighting hardware management, predetermined service costs and full-time customer care facilities.

Ryan Bailey, director of IT infrastructure at Radford University, said the institution wants to remove barriers to students getting online and welcomed the option to keep his staff focused on “projects that will define how we teach and work” over the next ten-years.

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Canada-based Terrestar Solutions struck a deal with the UAE company Space42 and US player Viasat to work on an open framework for sharing satellite infrastructure, with the ultimate aim of scaling direct-to-device (D2D) services while preserving national control over critical networks.

The Canadian satellite operator signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the two companies to establish interoperability standards linking its planned CaStar low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation with Equatys, a shared satellite infrastructure venture formed by Space42 and Viasat.

The proposed arrangement would allow operators to share network resources while retaining ownership and control of their satellite assets, ground networks and customer relationships.

For Terrestar this would maintain Canadian control of CaStar, including domestic gateways and ground infrastructure, while enabling it to connect with Equatys globally.

The companies expect the approach to reduce capital and operating costs by allowing operators to extend coverage without having to build and run standalone global constellations.

Under the proposed framework, the companies would coordinate resources including satellite capacity, beams, power and ground gateway access through vendor-neutral interfaces aligned with 3GPP non-terrestrial network specifications, GSMA roaming and interconnection frameworks and other recognised industry standards.

Space42 and Viasat agreed last year to establish Equatys, backed by up to $1 billion in combined equity commitments.

At the time they noted the venture aimed to provide shared infrastructure for satellite operators and other companies delivering D2D and advanced mobile satellite services. The Terrestar agreement marks the first planned application of Equatys’ “sovereign shell” model, which combines shared global infrastructure with satellite systems controlled and operated at a national or regional level.

“The future of mobile satellite connectivity won’t be built by countries or constellations acting alone,” said Jacques Leduc, president and CEO of Terrestar Solutions. “It will be built through open standards-based networks that combine national sovereignty with global reach, positioning us to compete at scale.”

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