August 10, 2010, 4:28 PM ET University Dorms Leave Landlines Behind
By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/08/10/university-dorms-leave-landlines-behind/?mod=rss_WSJBlog&mod= Following a trend that has been building for several years, some university dorms are ditching landline phones as cellphones become more popular. The University of Virginia removed about 3,850 telephones from residence halls over the summer, the school said this week. The school’s housing department will save $500,000 a year by not providing telephone service, officials said, adding that AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon had funded improvements in coverage on campus. “Students may still request a land-line telephone, but I don’t anticipate that a lot will,” said chief housing officer Mark Doherty in a statement. “Over the past several years, land-line use has decreased a lot.” A survey by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics released in May found that about a quarter of American homes had only cellphones, and an additional 15% had a landline but received almost all calls on mobile devices. Virginia joins a growing number of universities that are phasing out landlines in dorms. The University of South Dakota, for example, cut most of its landline service over the winter. About 20% of students were using landlines, said a university spokesman in an email. But by eliminating the cost of landlines “students will receive the benefits of the money saved, primarily through re-allocating those resources into other student programs,” he said. But some schools are sticking with landlines. A spokeswoman for Princeton University said the school manages its own telephone service and the infrastructure for landlines is “already in place.” And Virginia Tech said in December that it would maintain landlines in its dorms, in part because of a 2007 shooting at the school, when the university said it was difficult for students to get wireless service. The University of Virginia says there will still be emergency phones in hallways and staff areas. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
