Tufts Computing and Communications Services (TCCS) is negotiating with at least ten prospective vendors to replace Campuslink, the University's current telephone, cable TV, and Internet services provider. Campuslink's eight-year contract will come up for renewal in May of 2003, and TCCS has begun to explore various options to replace the current provider.
The vendors under consideration include telephone companies, cable TV companies, and companies called "aggregators" that bundle the services. "There is no clear leader at this point," Kathleen Cummings Topalian, Associate Director and Communications Officer of TCCS, said. TCCS and Arts, Sciences, and Engineering administrators will make the final decision next year.
Administrators have considered the possibility of Tufts becoming its own provider, but Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said this would require many adjustments, such as an increase in University staff. Reitman added that TCCS must consider a number of issues before coming to a decision, which he said would probably not occur until next year, closer to the contract's expiration date.
Now that at least half of Tufts students use cellular telephones as their primary telephone service, TCCS is exploring wireless and cellular options. Cummings Topalian said that low international long distance rates are also a concern for many students.
"The business model that [the company] used in 1995 when they first came to Tufts is no longer practical," Cummings Topalian said. She said the idea at the time was to provide three services -"voice, data, and video"- for the price of just voice and video. While Campuslink currently provides all three services, Cummings Topalian said that this type of service bundling would not be possible in the future contract. Neither Campuslink nor any other company will enter a contract under that model any longer.
Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate members Andrew Potts and Suman Rao will represent the student body in a committee made up of TCCS and Ballou. The committee will convene for the first time after spring break. Rao hopes to line up an official Tufts cellular service provider that will give students a discounted rate if a certain number of students sign up. The cellular phone provider would send plan information to students at the same time as the regular service provider so that students would have the option of choosing their service.
Most of the preparatory work is scheduled for the fall of 2002, when vendor's 2003 plans will be available. Questions about future technologies, especially cellular technology, have delayed firmer decisions.
In the 1995 contract, Campuslink agreed to hardwire all Tufts dorms with the expectation that the $3.5 million wiring cost would be paid off by earnings from long distance service. But long distance rates plummeted soon after the contract was signed, preventing Campuslink from breaking even until 1999.
Reitman said that Campuslink, which is owned by the Michigan-based company Paetec, has done the "bare minimum" to fulfill the contract. Students have been dissatisfied with the calling plan choices, the cable line-up, and the service overall, leading to expectations that Campuslink's contract will not be renewed.
"Paetec sent me a bill saying 'return seven to ten days before the due date,' but the bill arrived in my mailbox four days before it was due, so the late fee was attached automatically," freshman Jeff Zahler said. "And I haven't used their long distance service in a few weeks, but they keep sending me bills for it."
Cummings Topalian emphasized the importance of student input in the decision-making process. "We have had informal student input all along the way," she said, encouraging students who are able to commit through the fall of 2002 to participate in the committee.
