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Telecommunications: The Next Legacy?
8/22/2005
www.verizon.com), and Sprint (www.sprint.com), to participate in a pilot program that will begin this month (September ’05). When school begins, each vendor will place a cellular phone unit in the hands of 50 students. At the end of the trial in December, students will report back about which phones they liked best, and Dominick will iron out a deal with that lucky vendor to roll out a campuswide wireless program in the Fall ’06 semester. According to Dominick, the wireless program will become mandatory. Just as Wake Forest requires students to have laptop computers, so, too, will the school require students to carry university-affiliated cell phones. “If we ask them to have the same cell phone service, we’ll be able to get them all back on the same system again,” says Dominick. “In terms of communicating with our students, this will make things a whole lot easier.”Can You Hear Me Now?
Still, the plan isn’t without its challenges. First, for students who already own cell phones—which is most of them—the program could mean they’d have to obtain a second phone and carry it, an annoyance that might not go over very well. Second, of course, is the issue of 911. Currently, 911 calls from most cellular networks are routed to the nearest municipal police station. Wake Forest, however, will need to work with the “winning” cellular service provider to make sure that 911 calls from the university’s Winston-Salem, NC campus are routed to the university police instead.
In the move away from traditional telephones, perhaps the most important issue is cost. Though operating campus phone jacks costs nothing (Wake Forest won’t lose dollars in the switch), cost may become a factor in the new plan. In ironing out a deal with one of the wireless carriers, Dominick says the school must calculate basic service plan options, a billing strategy, and a price for the new mandatory devices. Ideally, he envisions a system that incorporates an annual wireless phone charge into the fee for room and board, and a monthly service bill that g'es directly to students. “We’ll do whatever we can to continue to provide our people with phone service,” says Dominick. “Communication with our students is so important, it’s not worth giving up without a fight.”
Matt Villano is senior contributing editor of this publication.
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