Belfast's eir evo delivers £6million wireless network to Ulster University campuses, fast-tracking its reputation as 6th best in the UK

Ulster University has completed a major £6 million digital infrastructure upgrade across all four Northern Ireland campuses thanks to its partnership with Belfast telecoms and IT provider eir evo UK.

Recently named among the top 30 UK universities in The Guardian University Guide, Ulster University enjoys a strong and growing national and international reputation for excellence, innovation and regional engagement and for its significant contribution to the economic, social and cultural development of the region.

With digital services in education now essential in every area, Ulster University’s investment, and its partnership with eir evo UK, has helped to break its way into StudentCrowd’s Top 20 league of universities for best wireless networks and internet for the first time in 2023 at number six – ahead of Aberdeen, St Andrews, Portsmouth, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Warwick and Dundee. The StudentCrowd UK University Awards league tables are based entirely on thousands of verified ac.uk student reviews.

Around 33,000 staff and students across campuses in Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry and Jordanstown Sports Village will now feel the benefits of ubiquitous superfast wireless connectivity including secure high-speed access anywhere to their education roaming network and supporting digital services including cybersecurity and media studies.

Underpinning all of this is a new multi-million-pound, future-proofed, secure, multi-gigabit HPE Aruba wired and wireless network infrastructure, delivered and supported in partnership with the University by leading ICT provider eir evo.

Part of several major contracts over the past few years that have led to a total transformation of the University’s digital infrastructure, the state-of-the-art powerful network delivered by eir evo was completed in the new Belfast campus in time for the official opening last September.

Incorporating every square metre of the new 75,000m2 campus, the HPE Aruba 100Gb wired and multi-gigabit wireless network means thousands of staff, students and guests can easily gain secure and reliable access to multi-gigabit internet speeds, helping to deliver a new era of digital teaching, learning and innovation.

Designed to support its growing needs for the next decade, the technology sets a new gold standard in digital services, underpinning Ulster University’s multi-gigabit wireless communications for today and tomorrow.

“Delivering on our commitment to bring world class teaching, to transform lives, open minds and develop the skills needed for a growing local economy, this ground-breaking digital investment is crucial to the University’s success, enabling a new level of interconnectivity across all our campuses in delivering ubiquitous and secure internet access right across our estate,” Terence Nicholl, head of infrastructure and operations, Ulster University, said.

“I’m delighted that our partnership with eir evo marks an exciting new milestone in providing the digital infrastructure we need to succeed across every area in an increasingly digital, modern and competitive learning environment.”

Since 2007, eir evo UK has been providing local businesses with the widest range of managed services including voice and data networking solutions, and more recently with IT, cyber security and cloud technology.

“Our contract with Ulster University delivers the most reliable and secure wireless network available, benefiting thousands of people every day and we’re proud to be a trusted partner to deliver its needs, providing instant, seamless connectivity for users across all its campuses,” explained Matt McCloskey, sales and marketing director, eir evo UK.

eir evo was awarded Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Partner of the Year 2022 for its high level of technical expertise in innovative solutions from the HPE portfolio including cloud services, infrastructure, security and networking. It was also named Microsoft Ireland Partner of the Year 2022 in recognition of its customer-first commitment to help organisations get the most out of their technology.

eir evo has recently invested more than £10million upgrading its regional carrier fibre network across Northern Ireland, this brings the total investment in our core fibre network to over £28 million in the past 15 years. With brand new modern offices on Great Victoria Street, eir evo has expanded its customer-facing team based in Belfast to support its continued growth.

eir evo is the largest provider to offer true end-to-end service delivery and technical innovation to the highest-level on the island of Ireland.