T-mobile to erect tower on campus

T-mobile is soon bringing its services to the Norwich community. A lease has been signed with T-mobile and a contract is in the works and awaiting the statement of work and construction drawings for a tower to be built on the Norwich campus, according to the director of information technology services at Norwich University.

"We have signed a lease which went through several revisions by executive management and university legal. In the lease it is stated that implementation will begin only upon approval of the construction drawings and statement of work," said Joe Morvan, director of information technology services.

The tower is supposed to be placed on top of Dewey Hall, which is located on the upper parade ground at Norwich. "The tower will be placed on Dewey Hall. The antennas will be connected to the elevator shaft extending above the roof," Morvan said.

T-mobile contacted Norwich with the interest in putting up the tower. When the tower is in place T-mobile will have to pay Norwich a leasing fee which is still being negotiated. The fee will be used to help Norwich with upgrades around campus.

"We were approached by T-mobile. T-mobile pays Norwich a leasing fee. The fee is placed in the telecommunications budget which supports infrastructure upgrades such as converting copper lines to fiber around campus," Morvan said

Norwich students have been able to use their T-mobile cell phones since AT&T has been on campus, but the cell phone is always roaming which causes the students' bills to be higher than normal.

"My bill is normally $80 when I am at home, but when I am at Norwich my bill is jacked up. I just checked my new bill and it is $99," said Michelle Baker, 21, a senior criminal justice major from Keene N.H.

"My bill is probably around $50 at home, at school my bill is around $150," said Sarah Scardino, 22, a junior communications major from Stoughton Mass.

One student was let go by T-mobile because her phone was roaming too much when at school. "I had T-mobile for over a year. I was paying about 60 a month at home. I had to switch to another phone company because T-Mobile sent me a letter saying I was roaming too much while in Vermont," said Meghan Kennedy, 19, a sophomore science major from Lowell Mass.

Norwich's goal for the tower is to help out students who are from around the country who have T-mobile phones so the cost of having the phone at Norwich will be decreased due to the fact that the phone will no longer be roaming. "Reducing roaming charges would be the biggest opportunity for students should they come to campus with an existing T-mobile plan," Morvan said.

"A tower will help out a lot because I won't be roaming all the time and it won't cost as much when I text or call someone," Scardino said.

When a contract is approved the building of the tower will take minimal time. "Once construction begins it is only a matter of weeks to complete an implementation. The lengthy part of the process is lease reviews, revisions and approval, construction drawing approvals, and licensing and permit approvals," Morvan said.

Students may be able to get T-mobile phones on campus when the tower is up and running.