Boldyn overhauls Radford University student internet

Boldyn Networks has partnered with Radford University to overhaul residential internet access across campus, covering 44 student housing buildings.

The new network reaches 2,965 beds and was deployed in 25 days. Under its ResNet residential network offering, Boldyn will design, build and run the service, as well as provide round-the-clock technical support for students.

The agreement shifts day-to-day operation of the residence hall network away from the university's internal IT team. Radford said this will allow staff to spend more time on broader technology work, including artificial intelligence projects and transitions involving its ERP and LMS systems.

As students arrive on campus with more connected devices and higher expectations for internet access in their accommodation, Radford chose to replace the residential network across all housing buildings at once rather than upgrade in stages. The aim is to give students the same experience regardless of where they live.

The arrangement also includes hardware lifecycle management and a defined cost for serving and supporting the residence halls over the next five years. This gives the university a more predictable operating model for a service area that can place heavy demands on campus IT departments.

Ryan Bailey, Director of IT Infrastructure at Radford University, said: "Our students expect a frictionless experience to plug into campus life the moment they arrive. We want to make the onboarding process easy, intuitive and quick with every device they own. Our partnership with Boldyn means students get that experience in every residence hall, and our IT team gets valuable time to focus on the projects that will define how we teach and work at Radford over the next decade."

Residential connectivity has become a bigger issue for universities as students increasingly treat campus accommodation as an extension of home, with multiple personal devices needing reliable access from the moment they move in. For institutions, that has turned residence hall networks into an operational service that can affect student satisfaction as much as teaching technology or administrative systems.

Broader IT shift

For Radford, outsourcing residential network management appears to be part of a broader effort to direct internal resources towards longer-term institutional projects. Its IT organisation is working through complex changes to core systems while preparing for wider digital transformation work.

Boldyn said Radford's decision reflects a choice facing many higher education institutions: how to invest in the student residential experience without adding pressure to in-house technology teams. The company says it works with more than 300 colleges and universities and has spent more than 25 years serving the higher education sector.

That footprint points to a growing market for third-party operators that take over specialist network functions on campus. Universities are increasingly looking for fixed-cost models and external operational support in areas where demand is rising but internal staffing remains constrained.

Matt Loecke, SVP, Higher Education, at Boldyn Networks US, said: "Radford made a decision a lot of institutions are weighing right now: investing in the residential experience of their students without stretching an already stretched IT team. Our role is to take the day-to-day off their plate and deliver a network students and staff don't have to think about, so the university can focus on the future innovation the network will enable."