Communications Services Upgrades for Notre Dame Students

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL STUDENTS

The University has completed an extensive upgrade to on-campus communications systems. The data wiring for the network serving University residence halls has been upgraded. Also, Notre Dame has added cable TV and WiFi in the undergraduate residence halls, and will make available voice mail boxes for all students, both on and off campus. However, land-line telephones in the rooms will no longer be provided unless arranged for as described below. To understand these changes and the options you have, please review the following. Please note: the cable TV, opt-in telephone service, and wireless network changes do NOT apply to married student housing, Fischer & O'Hara-Grace graduate residences, and University Village.

Voice Mail Box: The University is providing a new voice mail box service for all students, regardless of whether you live on or off campus. You’ll be provided a five-digit voice mail box number as you enroll for the fall semester, and this number will remain the same throughout your tenure at the University. This voice mailbox number will be available in University directories and can be used by your friends, family and your faculty members to leave you messages. Further information on setting up your voice mail account and retrieving messages will be provided during enrollment.

Cellular Telephones: Of course, as so many students do already, you may choose to rely on your cellular telephone as your campus telephone. We are pleased to let you know that the University has reached agreements with Verizon and Cingular cellular telephone service providers to dramatically improve their cellular telephone coverage on campus by the Fall Semester. More information on carriers and services can be found at http://oit.nd.edu/cellular.

“Opt-In” Telephone Service: There is no longer a mandatory telephone charge in the undergraduate residence hall rooms, but you will still have the opportunity to subscribe to a local telephone service. This optional phone service can be purchased through “Home Under the Dome” using “InsideND” http://inside.nd.edu during the summer and the first month of the academic year. The cost is $161 per semester, which will be billed to your student account. You must bring your own telephone instrument to campus which can include multiple features but cannot be a 2.4 GHz wireless phone, since these tend to interfere with wireless data service. 900 MHz and 5 GHz phones are acceptable. If you decide to purchase this “opt-in” service, you will also need to arrange for a long distance plan or use a pre-paid calling card. Phone service may be shared among roommates within a room if desired, but each phone line can be billed to just one student account. You’ll want to discuss with your roommate(s) whether you want opt-in phone service. See http://oit.nd.edu/telecommunications/optin.shtml for answers to questions regarding the “Opt-In” telephone service.

In addition, each residence hall will have public phones available on every floor for campus phone calls and emergency calls. These public phones will only permit local outgoing calls (South Bend, Mishawaka); long distance calls will require a calling card or a pre-paid calling card.

Residence Hall Wired and Wireless Communications: The Nomad wireless data network previously available throughout the rest of campus is now available in all of the residence halls. The Nomad wireless network is a shared resource designed to enhance mobile access and is complimentary to, but not a replacement for, the campus wired network. To learn more about wired and wireless communications, click http://oit.nd.edu/nomad.

Cable Television: The University is now providing expanded basic cable television service in each individual room in the undergraduate residence halls as part of the room and board package. Information on the cable TV service including channel line-up and premium channel availability (for an additional charge, directly from Comcast) can be found at http://oit.nd.edu/cabletv. Please note, the University does not permit satellite dishes.

Please refer to http://oit.nd.edu/telecommunications for answers to all of your questions regarding these upgraded communication services.