In t his article, the author discusses the role of higher education research and development (R&D)--particularly R&D into the issues and problems that industry is less able to explore. In addition to high-speed computer communication, broadband networking efforts, and the use of fiber, a rich service environment is equally important and is somewhat difficult for industry to explore. For example, the issues that colleges and universities encounter in wireless campus networks--dealing with security matters, with interference, with open spectrum--these are problems that industry is struggling with. (Contains 1 resource.)