Xfinity On Campus, Comcast’s IP-based multiscreen video service for college students, stayed on a roll this week by adding two more schools to its list of partners – Sonoma State University and Saint Michael’s College.
Sonoma State, located in Rohnert Park, Calif. (about an hour north of San Francisco), has about 9,297 student, including 3,000 that are “residential students” (primarily freshman and sophomores). , Saint Michael’s College of Colchester, Vt., has about 2,050 undergrads. Both schools now appear on the Xfinity On Campus Web site's pull-down menu.
Xfinity On Campus, a service that's powered by Comcast’s cloud-based X1 platform that launched commercially last fall, delivers a mix of linear TV, VOD, premium channels, and sports package via the partner school’s managed campus WiFi network to PC browsers and apps for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Students use their university credentials to sign on to the service when they are connected to the campus network. Students can also use their credentials to access several supported TV Everywhere apps, including WatchESPN.
Sonoma State and Saint Michael’s College join a list of Xfinity On Campus partners that has been growing by the week. Others on board include Yale University, Morehouse College, Tennessee State University; Loyola University Maryland; Goucher College; Rider University; Regis College; Dartmouth College; California State University, Chico; Bridgewater College; Emerson College; Lasell College; Drexel University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Northwestern University; the University of Delaware; and the University of New Hampshire.
Philo, a startup that landed a $10 million “B” round of funding earlier this year, has developed a similar on-campus IP video platform (it continues to have a presence at Yale, an official confirms), as has Cox Communications via its Campus Connect platform.
