Sprint Nextel is teaming with startup Rave Wireless to provide a GPS-location service and a variety of on-campus information, such as class schedules and an events calendar, via cell phone to students
at Allen University in South Carolina and University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Students and faculty at the schools will receive Sprint or Nextel phones (covered by tuition) equipped with Rave's
college-oriented applications. The wireless arrangements with Allen University and UMES, both historically black colleges, follow a similar deal that Sprint struck with Rave last year to provide
specialized mobile applictions to Montclair University in New Jersey. This fall, Montclair is requiring that students use the Sprint phones. So far, neither Sprint or Rave have pursued agreements with
third-party marketers; a Rave spokesperson said the company envisions mobile commerce and marketing deals eventually, although any such arrangements would have to be made with the approval of their
college or university partners.
--Mark Walsh
