More Colleges Give Cell Phones An 'A'

A Growing Number Of Schools Eliminate Landlines In Favor Of Wireless Service

(AP) 

The challenge is to make the Bearcat phones so appealing in affordability and features that students will want to switch from their existing cell phones, Siff said.

Eric Weil, a managing partner with Student Monitor, which publishes a nationally syndicated marketing research study of the college student market, said he is not sure if schools can compete from a pricing standpoint with the family plans that many students are locked into when they get to campus.

"I think schools generally are trying to respond to what they think students want in technology, but I think some of these ideas will be met with limited interest by students and parents," he said.

Morrisville has been pleased with its deal with Nextel Partners Inc., which provided the cell replacements for traditional phone service.

Students are charged for the cell phones in residence hall fees, said Jean Boland, Morrisville's vice president of technology services. Incoming and local calls, voice mail and Caller ID are free, while students pay for long distance. Phones are returned upon graduation.

Whether schools can save money by removing landlines depends on the type of phone systems they use. Some schools own their telephone networks and paid for them years ago, while others pay monthly for every phone line on campus.

The University of Scranton expects to invest the approximately $200,000 a year it has been spending on dorm phone lines to update its campus cable-TV network and other data services to benefit students, said Jerry DeSanto, vice president for planning and chief information officer.

UC will eliminate landlines — with the exception of a few house phones — from one dormitory this fall on a trial basis and expects eventually to remove them from all residence halls.

But some schools aren't ready to make that leap.

Officials at Towson University in Maryland worry about potential lawsuits if students don't have reliable landline service in their dorm rooms in case of emergency.

"While the money we pay for landlines in each room could be reinvested elsewhere, I don't like the idea of depending solely on a few courtesy phones in hallways," Towson telecommunications analyst Alex Konialian said.

Austin College also is keeping landlines for safety reasons, but it will no longer offer long distance or voice mail on those phone lines. Most students use cell phones for such calls, said telecommunications specialist Sandy Russell.

At the University of Cincinnati, senior Megan Kelly, 27, of Cincinnati, is worried that grades might be withheld if phone bills are unpaid or in dispute, although that's not in the current plan.

Sophomore Chris Weiser, 20, of Dayton, thinks the plan sounds worthwhile but wants more details.

"I'm not sure how many will want to pay extra for the smart phone," he said.