The University of Colorado at Boulder has contracted with MCI to provide a dial-in Internet service to be paid for by individual users who now routinely receive busy signals when they try to dial in to university servers.
Demand by students, faculty and staff for modem service to access the Internet, World Wide Web and electronic mail far outpaces the system's capabilities.
The university's Computing and Network Services will continue to maintain some 400 existing modem pools for use by students, faculty and staff. For information call CNS at 492-6543.
For information and to sign up for the CU-Boulder pay-for-service modem pool, students, faculty and staff should call (800) 660-3787. Accounts will be activated on completion of an agreement form, and bills will be sent monthly to individual subscribers.
The new modem service is a component of "campus MCI Internet," a package of services provided by MCI to CU-Boulder. Individuals can access e-mail through an 800 number via modem from anywhere in the country.
Fees include a $10 one-time start-up fee, plus a charge of $12 per month for 60 hours of use between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m. Between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. subscribers have unlimited access.
The monthly rate is significantly lower than that of other Internet service providers and provides SLIP/PPP service at speeds up to 28.8 kilobytes per second, electronic mail account capabilities and access to the World Wide Web and Internet news groups, according to Mark Dubin, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and the Boulder campus chief information officer.
"We are pleased to link up with MCI to provide additional modem services," said Dubin. "Information technology is vital to the campus and is fast becoming an integral part of education. This agreement helps the university maintain an active role in technology and provides students, faculty and staff with the tools they need to be connected to the Internet."
According to Roger Hoaglund, regional director of MCI's state government and university markets, "campus MCI Internet solves the challenge that universities and colleges face in providing fast, reliable service at an economical cost. MCI has been happy to work closely with the University of Colorado at Boulder to help provide the best Internet access at the lowest cost."