UTS, Alcatel to build broadband campus

Alcatel-Lucent has joined the ranks of network vendors partnering with universities on telecommunications engineering courses, yesterday announcing a partnership with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

Following on from similar recent announcements from Cisco and Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent will partner with UTS.

Alcatel-Lucent and UTS will build a new campus within the university's Blackfriars campus, specifically for training engineering students using courses based on the company's training materials. The campus is expected to be open in August and will include training rooms and a laboratory with equipment to be provided by the company. Alcatel-Lucent staff will also teach some sections of the courses.

The university expects up to 100 students per year will be able to train on the new campus by 2012, with around 1500 Alcatel-Lucent staff also tipped to use the new facilities each year. As with the courses offered by the company's competitors, the focus appears to be on training for the National Broadband Network, with voice over IP, video over IP, access IP technology and Passive Optical Networks all part of the focus.

UTS vice-chancellor Ross Milbourne signed the agreement on behalf of the university.

"This partnership with Alcatel-Lucent ensures we can continue to help the ICT industry by ensuring a highly-skilled workforce," Milbourne said in a statement.

Alcatel-Lucent Australia managing director Andrew Butterworth welcomed the agreement.

"Both Alcatel-Lucent and UTS are driven by innovation and technology, and we share the mutual goal of equipping a new generation of students with the skills needed in a broadband-enabled Australia," he said.

In April, Alcatel-Lucent also announced a partnership with Melbourne University to create a $10 million "green telecommunications" research centre.