With Penn ending free connections to its modem pool at the end of the month, officials are working hard to help students living off-campus switch to commercial service providers.
Starting August 1, users will be charged to dial into the service, which has provided free on-line access to students and faculty since 1996. University officials decided to discontinue the pool by mid-2002, citing the development of better technology in the private sector as the reason behind the change.
After free access ends, dial-up users will be able to choose between continuing to use the existing pool -- at $13 a month -- or switching to a commercial provider.
Penn has made arrangements with several commercial providers, DCANet and Bell Atlantic, to get service at a price of $12.95 per month for Penn users.
And Vice Provost for Information Services and COmputing Jim O'Donnell recommends that students use the private ISPs instead of paying to use Penn's connection.
"Our recommendation is based around trying to get a good price for people," he said, noting that Penn's current modem pool is significantly slower than many commercial services.
In a pilot program conducted the past few months -- where Penn paid for three months of commercial services for students in exchange for a detailed evaluation of the company -- O'Donnell said users preferred the services of DCANet over Bell Atlantic, and recommended that students go with DCANet.
However, the University is currently in talks with another vendor to provide services for students.
O'Donnell said that the process of transitioning users from the Penn pool to a commercial service has been progressing well.
"The typical usage for the month of July is down noticeably compared to last July," he said.
While free access will end on July 31, free access to the express pool -- which allows users to log on for 15 minutes at a time -- will remain available. Users will have to configure a new phone number on their computers in order to connect to the express pool, though O'Donnell discouraged dial-up users from relying on the service.
"It'll be free, but it will be crowded and slow," he said.
For those who have yet to transition from Penn to a commercial ISP, O'Donnell encouraged them to check in with the ISC's website to find the ISP that fits their needs best.
"The best thing you can do is plan ahead," he said.
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