For example, the University of Agriculture in Vienna (together with the University of Technology) has started to participate in telematic programs to train farmers. This might give the university a competitive edge in attracting students and maintaining the quality of academic research and education just by the complex interactions between teachers, trainers, authors and reasearchers. And this level of excellency might not be reached if the university did not try to expand its market beyond the physical limitations of the city!
Generally speaking, the economy of scale might be still applicable when it comes to the delivery of telematic services, because the scope of the needed support functions is increasingly expanding. Urban knowledge bases can still provide this scope better than anything else, in reasonable speed and reliability.