Question:
| Date added: | 4/30/2009 |
| Q: | Pres. Destler,
As you know many RIT students live off campus, and I am sure you also know that the Internet is key to a college students' success as we use the internet to research, share data with groups, contact professors, and stay in touch with current events outside the RIT community. You might not know that Time Warner Cable is introducing a new pricing strategy that will charge their customers for the amount of data they transfer rather than one flat rate. This seems outrageous to myself and many of my peers, as we can barely afford the Internet now. This price increase also raises a lot of questions such as what other service providers are available and whether they have the infrastructure available to handle an increase in subscribers; what will happen to the Internet on campus; is there any way RIT can get a flat rate pricing for its students? I am sure that you can see why a price increase for our Internet could be a problem. Students need reliable, fast, and cheap Internet where they live. Please Dr. Destler help us out!!! |
| A: | Up until now, RIT has negotiated and coordinated cable and internet services on RIT campus for students who live on campus. Students in Residence Halls and Apartments (with exception of Riverknolls) already have internet access via the RIT campus network which is not impacted by this Time Warner price change. Riverknolls students contract directly with Time Warner for cable and internet services and can apply for a partial rebate funded by Housing Operations at RIT. Those students who live off campus have traditionally been free to make any purchase choice relative to cable and wireless services. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of vendor choices locally that have both high speed and low prices.
ITS, Housing and Purchasing are meeting to identify access opportunities including vendor options and negotiations with Time Warner and others that may be valuable to our students and the overall institution. |
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