AT&T to install speedier internet at TIU

Trinity Digest

Vol. 54 - Issue 7

Trinity International University’s (TIU) internet speed will increase more than 400% no later than Apr 10, a sizeable investment of close to $30,000 a year, according to Information Technology (IT).

The expansion of the TIU campus, also known as Trinity Hall, furthered the ambition of a completely wireless campus and caused an unanticipated surge in students’ internet use. Massive downloading and uploading traffic called for extra bandwidth.

In early December 2006, IT signed a contract with AT&T that is to enhance the internet bandwidth from 4.5 megabytes (MB) to 20 MB. The target date is less than a month away and, although IT has done their part to ensure a timely transition, there is still work to be done by AT&T.

“We’ve been waiting on them,” said IT Director of Networking and Telecommunications Kelvin Tohme. “It takes time, it’s not about flipping a switch.”

The State of Illinois has approved AT&T’s architectural and engineering design plans and have granted work permits for the trenching and boring portion of the project that went underway Mar 14. AT&T also installed relay rack and Cisco switch networking equipment in the IT room in the basement of the Mansion.

But AT&T still needs to pull and terminate the fiber optic cable from their off-campus site to the Mansion, which is to be done by Mar 23, complete connectivity testing of the new circuit, and cut over to the 20 MB bandwidth by the Apr 10 deadline.

Once the new technology service is established, any future need to increase the bandwidth is “just a phone call and a few days away,” said Tohme. “The internet experience should be quite pleasant.”