Challenges and Results of Establishing the Teleservice Laboratory at NTNU

In 2001 the Teleservice laboratory was established within the Avantel project, a cooperation project between Ericsson, Telenor, the Department of Telematics at NTNU, and SINTEF. Avantel aims at establishing a centre of excellence on rapid development of advanced telecom services. The Teleservice laboratory provides state-of-the-art technology and infrastructures for service development and execution. Users of the lab are able to test the developed services on Telenor’s fixed line and cellular networks. Students form a major resource in the laboratory. They contribute to the development of services and to the assessment of new technologies. In this paper we present the Teleservice laboratory facilities and activities. We show the relationship between the laboratory and the courses at the Department of Telematics at NTNU. We also discuss issues related to establishing and maintaining a laboratory in a pedagogical setting.