Mobile connectivity for 80 schools in Muenster

18. September 2019 – ALE, operating under the brand Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, today announced it has been selected to deliver a comprehensive WLAN project for all 80 schools in the city of Münster. Over 1,600 Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess® Stellar Access Points will provide high-performance wireless connectivity for students and staff in a single unified network, centrally managed by municipal IT provider citeq.

The new WLAN will provide secure BYOD capability, allowing teachers and students for the first time to access the network using their personal mobile devices. The solution can also deliver tailored services to support learning in the classroom, including an interface to a dedicated “TIME for kids” portal which provides digital access to learning aids and educational content. Continuous uptime is ensured by running all network management operations across two separate servers for maximum availability. For future expansions and to support greater demand for bandwidth, the network can easily be scaled.

Following a Europe-wide tender procedure, longstanding ALE business partner Nachrichtentechnik Bielefeld GmbH (NTB) was selected by the city of Münster’s municipal IT provider, citeq, to deliver the project. The new WLAN consists of the latest generation Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess® Stellar Access Points – AP1221 models for indoor use, and AP1251 models for outdoor use – centrally managed with the advanced Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista® 2500 Network Management System. The full roll-out commenced in May 2019, with project completion in all schools scheduled for the end of the year.

Stefan Schoenfelder, Betriebsleiter, citeq 

“Increased digitisation of the schools is at the top of our agenda. The roll-out of a reliable, centrally managed WLAN network connecting all Münster schools is a core element of this ambitious project. The combination of the modern ALE technology and NTB expertise has proven itself during this step in our digital transformation journey.”

Daniel Brosend, General Manager, Nachrichtentechnik Bielefeld GmbH

“Since our initial discussions with citeq to consider every requirement from all 80 schools in Münster, the NTB team has worked tirelessly to make citeq’s vision of digital schools a reality. The ALE solutions proposed for this project have allowed us to deliver an effective WLAN solution with a minimal maintenance burden, as proven in the flawless completion of our initial testing in December.”

Filip Verstockt, SVP EUNO Region, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

“The need for high-speed mobile connectivity for both staff and students has become increasingly vital as more education services and operations become digitised. Our OmniAccess Stellar range of access points bring together enterprise-grade performance, seamless deployment and intuitive management to deliver the high user experience and service levels today expected as standard in the education sector.”