The College recently signed a new contract to more than triple its Internet bandwidth, according to Director of Information Technology Philip Fitz. Although the College had previously signed a contract with Vitts Networks to increase its bandwidth from three megabits per second to six megabits per second, Vitts announced in January that it was going out of business, leaving the College searching for a new way to increase its Internet speed. According to Fitz, the new contract signed with Verizon will increase the bandwidth to 10 megabits per second by the beginning of April.

"I'm really pleased we were able to find an alternate service," Fitz said. "I was afraid that we were not going to be able to do it until the summer."

According to Fitz, while the College looked at several companies, it chose Verizon because the company was the most reliable and likely to be able to provide the service. He estimated that the company would be able to provide the service by the beginning of April but said in a letter to all faculty and staff that there are "a number of variables beyond the control of either Verizon or us that could adversely affect that timeframe."

Fitz that Verizon only sells megabits in chunks of either five or 10 megabits so the College determined that five megabits might not be enough for the one-year period that the Verizon contract requires.

Fitz said that the College currently spends $35,000 to $40,000 a year on Internet service, although he is unable to disclose the cost of the new contract with Verizon.

"Given how important Internet is in the teaching and learning that goes on here, it seems clear to me that this is an important thing, and the administration agreed," said Fitz.

Fitz said, however, that he is working with others in the Five College Consortium to develop a long-range networking plan in the hope that it will be more cost-effective than the current temporary solution. Although the bandwidth is going to be more than tripled, Fitz said he does not anticipate it will solve the College's problem, because new technology will likely lead to an increased need for bandwidth. He added that, while the increased bandwidth is likely to make a huge difference in Internet speed at the College, it is hard to tell how many people have stopped using the Internet due to its slow speed and will begin using it again after the increase takes place. Thus, the speed may not actually triple.

Fitz also said that the College plans to continue its crackdown on the use of Napster and other such programs. He said that the College currently has a new program that makes it possible to gauge bandwidth use, and that the program found that five computers were using 25 percent of the College's bandwidth. He said that these users were contacted and that others using more than their share of bandwidth will be contacted as well.