The Glide National Network is delivering significant advances in university student Wi-Fi and opening the door for smart technology for the halls of residence of the future. Traditional Wi-Fi providers treat each purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) property as a standalone project. Dealing with congested, over-subscribed carrier networks and with zero access to economies-of-scale.
The evolution of the Glide National Network is a key component of a customer-centric approach which continues to raise expectations and deliver significant operational efficiency for student accommodation operators. Owning the smart infrastructure installed on site and the physical infrastructure connected to the Glide national network ensures complete freedom for Glide to deliver speed, resilience and bandwidth to customers.
Maintaining competitive advantage is increasingly important as operators look to differentiate their properties, invest in enriching student experience and maintain 100% occupancy. By installing technology into BT exchanges Glide introduce significant operational benefits by not having to re-route traffic in and out of other data centres. Applying the same approach in major UK cities, with a significant number of customer sites to aggregate back to each exchange, helps to realise considerable operational benefits and adaptability.
Operational efficiency passed on to Glide customers that can not be offered by Glide competitors.
Connectivity is a major operational challenge. Offering competitive packages in turn helps student accommodation operators to remain competitive. This innovative and cost effective approach to deliver Wi-Fi across the UK means more ownership and control so there are fewer third parties to deal with during deployment and more freedom and ownership to deliver progressive support agreements. If something breaks it is much easier and quicker to fix it. New customers benefit from an established and robust infrastructure and with comprehensive UK coverage chances are a new site is close to the Glide National Network.
The Glide National Network was born 5 years ago, starting in London and Manchester. Since then, we’ve enjoyed huge growth as clients have opted for our superfast, reliable broadband services, meaning we are now the leading provider of complete connectivity services for student accommodation serving over 350,000 students across 850 sites in the UK and Europe. With access to 60 BT exchanges across the UK, from Aberdeen to Plymouth, we can provide superfast, reliable broadband to most major metropolitan areas in the country. With access to exchanges in 90% of all student cities, we currently have around 850 student sites directly connected to our network.
Investment in student accommodation is set to continue, particularly in Europe. Delivering on those investments depends on full occupancy of the building, made more challenging by the relatively short duration of university courses and a short academic year. The Glide National Network and Smart Fibre Infrastructure™ will ensure the bandwidth is available onsite for both operational teams and students and will continue to meet the demand for Wi-Fi for at least 50 years and provide the foundation for smart buildings of the future.
The network has grown massively in the last few years, but we’re aiming for more. We’re investing heavily, tripling the size and delivering a 10x speed boost to key exchanges, which means more connectivity in more locations. The next evolution of the Glide National Network will see significant investment in Dark Fibre. By installing the necessary components to make Dark Fibre operational Glide can prepare for the future. Dark Fibre managed by Glide has unlimited speed.
Managed Internet Service for University and Student Accommodation
Enhance your students’ online experience with better Wi-Fi for student accommodation. From in depth monthly service reports, annual reviews, marketing materials to a student friendly Service Desk and onsite support, Glide will provide everything you need for a fully reliable managed internet service for both you and your students.
Wi-Fi for Student Accommodation
Students want to be constantly connected, wherever they are. Glide’s best in class intelligent pervasive Wi-Fi means that students can enjoy a seamless internet connection across their multiple devices wherever they are in their student accommodation. Plus, all the support they need.
Get in touch with a member of our team to find out about our fully managed internet service. Call us on 03333 800 800 or drop us an email at glidestudent@glide.co.uk, or find out more details on our website.
