In May of 2003, Tufts' eight-year contract with Campuslink will come up for renewal, offering the University a chance to renegotiate its contract for telephone, cable TV, and Internet services. As the deadline approaches, Tufts Computing and Communications Service (TCCS) has begun to think about alternatives to the existing network.
The University entered into the contract with Campuslink in 1995, when the company agreed to hardwire all of Tufts' residential dorms with the understanding that the $3.5 million price tag would be paid off by revenue from long distance service. The payoff took much longer than expected, however, as a result of the dive long distance rates took months after Campuslink signed the contract. It took Campuslink until last year to recoup its initial investment.
"What many students don't realize is that Campuslink has really never made any money off of Tufts," TCCS manager Marj Minnigh said. "Because long distance rates have fallen so much over the past few years, the whole idea of paying for data services through the phone service profits completely failed."
TCCS is searching for methods of providing voice, cable, and data services to students, all while not increasing tuition, or charging students a technology fee. Tufts is one among a small handful of schools in the country that does not charge students in any manner for the upkeep of Internet connections.
"In many ways, Campuslink has been a benefit to Tufts. Where other schools who tried to do everything 'in house' were hurt financially when long distance rates dropped so much, in our case Campuslink took that hit, not Tufts," said Tufts Network and Telecommunications Director Lesley Tolman.
Barring a few voicemail glitches in September, the service has run exceptionally smoothly so far this year.
"Aside from some small problems that were quickly fixed, we really haven't had many outages or complaints about the phone service since the beginning of the year," said Gil Matos, Tufts' account manager at Campuslink.
Despite the increased reliability over past years, many students remain unsatisfied with Campuslink's high long-distance charges. Some have completely bypassed Campuslink and rely entirely on cell phones, further hurting Campuslink's bottom line.
"For about $40 a month, I get 375 minutes on my cell phone, with free unlimited long distance after 8 p.m. on weekdays and the entire weekend. I get the convenience of a cell phone, free long distance, all features I'd get with Campuslink, at the same price," freshman Ronak Patel said.
All of Campuslink's price and service adjustments must be approved by Tufts before going into effect, and the contract stipulates that all charges must be near market value - a clause that holds true in some respects and not in others.
Verizon, one of the most prevalent local phone companies, charges $36.53 for monthly service, including voicemail and call waiting, which is almost identical to Campuslink's fee. While Verizon does charge a $40 installation fee, it offers customers more options. If a student cuts out certain premium options, the fee can be reduced to under $10 a month.
Local cable operator RCN charges about $40 a month for basic cable, which is slightly more expensive than Campuslink's $36 fee. Campuslink also provides and maintains the equipment and wiring necessary for Tufts' Internet connection free of additional charge. Charges for similar high-speed Internet access from RCN are also approximately $40 a month.
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman characterized the company's fulfillment of the contract as the "bare minimum." Many students are also disappointed with the service, citing a lack of calling plan choices, in addition to a poor cable lineup, as one of the service's biggest problems. Most students are displaying their unhappiness with the company by simply refusing purchase its services. Less than 40 percent of Tufts students receive cable - well below the number that Campuslink needs to meet its costs. Long distance usage is down as well, with a mere 57 percent of Tufts students making even one long-distance call last year, with many others opting for cell phones over hard wires.
The main choices for Tufts are to continue with Campuslink, find a different company with similar offerings, or completely outsource everything, requiring students to call the telephone and cable companies on their own for service.
While the benefits of better service and more cable programming would be welcome, chances are that features such as the four-digit campus extension would be difficult to retain.
Over the next few years, Tufts will upgrade its Internet connection from the current 10Mbps connection to a much faster 100Mbps connection. TCCS is also investigating possible new technologies, such as a wireless network similar to the one Carnegie Mellon University recently installed, which allows students to access the Internet from anywhere on campus.
