Campuslink contract renewal unlikely

After eight years of providing telephone and cable television service to Tufts' campus, Campuslink Communications will likely stop serving the University next summer.

Campuslink's contract with Tufts expires on August 31, 2003 and the company has implied that it is unlikely it will seek a renewal, according to Kathleen Cummings, the acting director of University Information Technology Support Services.

"Campuslink has made some indications that they don't want to stay in the cable TV business beyond their current commitment to us," she said.

Paetec, Campuslink's parent, and other telecommunications companies have suffered from deregulation of their industry over the past ten years, which led to increased consumer choices, lower rates and thinner profits overall. In 2000, Paetec was listed on the NASDAQ but was forced to de-list a year later because of worsening market conditions.

Last fall, The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate initiated talks with the administration to find a replacement for Campuslink, which also provides phone and Ethernet services. Student concerns centered on long distance phone rates, which they considered high.

Although the plan for finding a replacement telephone provider remains unclear, the search for a new cable provider is the responsibility of Tufts Computing and Communications Services (TCCS), which plans to form a committee to discuss future service providers.

Once the committee is formed (TCCS is looking for more members, including students), it will draft a request for proposal (RFP). The RFP will then be issued to Campuslink and competing companies RCN and AT&T Broadband after Thanksgiving. Companies interested in the contract will return them their own proposals, and a bid on the contract will follow.

The committee will base its decision on various criteria, including price, company stability, channel selection, pay-per-view options, and any other financial risks that may possibly arise.

Once one company is chosen, negotiations will follow for the best possible contract. Currently a Tufts student living in a single pays $27 per month for cable or $213.50 per year. The prices increase by $6 for each additional person living in the room. Quad residents are charged $45.00 per or $366.50 for the entire year. When Campuslink's contract started, the company resold the cable television services of Time Warner Cable. The company now resells AT&T Broadband.

In comparison, AT&T Broadband charges a house in Medford $47.50 for a month of basic cable. This "bronze package," the cheapest AT&T cable option, includes more stations than Tufts students get through Campuslink. With the Broadband AT&T package, subscribers also receive ESPN2, Encore, and multiple channels of digital music.

Regular residential customers can also subscribe to premium channels, which are unavailable through Campuslink. As shows like HBO's 'Sex and the City' and 'The Sopranos' have risen in popularity over the past few years, this point has become a particular source of frustration for some students, who sometimes resort to downloading the shows from the Internet.

But for all the students who wish they had HBO, there are others who are unconcerned with the service provider decision because they do not consider cable television a priority.

Bradley Scott, a freshman, is not affected at all. "I don't know a lot of people who even have bought the cable plan," he said. "To me it is not really that important. If I want to find out what is going on in the world I can just look on the Internet and I don't have to sift through commercials. And if I really have to see a show or a game, there is always the television in the lounge."

Other students do not want to bear the cost. "I would like to get the cable, but I don't want to pay," freshman Noah Dock said. "I'm paying enough for college already." Cable is a nice extra for some students, but not a necessity, Dock added.