The IHE as ISP: with shrinking revenues from long-distance service resale, IHEs move to new telecom models - Technology

University Business, Dec, 2003 by Tom Warger

As part of their planning for a Campus Village that when completed in 2005 will be home to 4,800 students and 50 faculty and staff, California's San Jose State University surveyed students regarding their telecommunications and technology needs. Virtually all responding students owned a computer, printer, and cell phone. When asked what features should be in a basic package of technology services, they replied: hard-wired 911 service, high-speed Internet, hard-wired telephone, basic cable or satellite TV, and voicemail. Optional add-ons they would consider were: cell phone service, premium cable, and pager Internet access. Despite the high ownership of cell phones, students said they still wanted hard-wired phone service both in their living rooms and bedrooms. Half the students said the quality of the technology package could definitely persuade them to live in the Campus Village.

BECOMING A PROVIDER

It's not surprising, then, that institutions of higher education are re-examining their role as provider of telecommunication services. Motivations range from new construction projects to the need to replace aging PBX switches. Some colleges and universities believe digital technologies for communication have converged to the point that they should be carried and managed on a single network. Others are unconvinced that the merger is appropriate, but are looking at other ways to reconfigure services and make new alliances in telecommunications.

Peter Andrews, a consultant for IBM's Advanced Business Institute (www.ibm.com), says that three qualities characterize the future-ready technology and communications infrastructure. It must be: 1) big enough to accommodate growing opportunities, 2) fully leveraged so that all its capabilities are compatible and mutually supporting, and 3) flexible so that it can deal with unanticipated changes. "Such an infrastructure," says Andrews, "might go beyond being ready for new opportunities; it might create them by providing more latitude as new business possibilities become visible."

Why not be a CLEC? At St. Olaf College (MN), Craig Dunton serves as director of a telecommunications department that also serves neighboring Carleton College (MN), Shattuck-St. Mary's School, and the Northfield Hospital These diverse institutions each have their own PBX and cable plant. What is about to change is that their shared telecom department is about to become a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC)--in essence, its own local dial-tone provider. Dunton estimates that becoming a CLEC, which has just received preliminary approval from the state of Minnesota, wil save the group of institutions $4,000 per month.

Although Dunton and his staff install and maintain all wire and fiber infrastructure for the collaborating institutions, he is not an advocate of the "converged" network model, saying, "It has not been proved to me that it is better service, less costly, or easier to maintain. In our case, none of those make any sense." The biggest advantages of the shared, centrally managed telecommunications system at these institutions have been the elimination of duplicate equipment and services and a commitment to rigorous standards for the campus cable plants. The CLEC initiative became possible in large part because of the successful integration of telecommunications services at the most basic level of physical plant and maintenance services.

Students at St. Olaf College, like those polled at San Jose, still use wired phones. But many of them had opted not to sign up for long distance service through the college, finding dramatically lower rates with calling cards from discount stores. Now St. Olaf is offering a 4-cents-per-minute rate in an effort to win back that business. Dunton says he is convinced that there is still a market for low-cost reliable telephone service on campus.

CLEC status for the Minnesota group also opens the possibility that other local organizations might come to them for local exchange service. Increasingly, the business of providing telecommunications service is crossing the boundary between town and gown.

Telecom cafe. Trinity College (CT) operates Trinfo.Cafe, a telecommunications resource for organizations and individuals neighboring the college. Services include workshops, a computer refurbishing and recycling program, and provision of high-speed Internet connectivity in homes. According to John Langeland, CIO at Trinity College, "It is clear that these services have been important and even transformative for some of the people and organizations." Trinity College is looking for ways to sustain the program, originally funded into the future by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation.

BETTER INTERNET SERVICES

Many IHEs are providing Internet connectivity to their off-campus members or aligning themselves with commercial ISPs. Lower costs for connection are one of the motivations for these service plans. Other rationale cited include uniform quality of service, and extension of campus LAN functionality to the off-campus community.