Greg Schaffer

schaffer@mtsu.edu

Lucinda Lea

Office of Information Technology

N/A

Tecelcom Data Communications Room

Upgrade of Existing Technology

N/A

Bandwidth needs to the Internet are continuing to grow rapidly at MTSU. In addition to traditional uses such as providing a conduit for e-mail and information gathering services, Internet usage has expanded. More professors are offering online courses via CourseInfo, there is a drive for every student to use email for communications, and student services over the Internet have stretched the current Internet "pipe" to the limit. In the spring of 2001, over 1,250 residence hall connections were added as part of Housing and Residential Life's project to provide Internet access to the residence halls. When all of the campus' residences are wired, close to 3,500 new connections will be added to a continuously growing network. The Regents' Online Degree Program will require more bandwidth for online class distribution. In addition, the data, including video, passed between educational institutions within Tennessee is expected to increase substantially once the Tennessee Information Infrastructure (TNII) project is finished. MTSU must continually increase bandwidth to provide the fast, on demand access required in today's learning environment. By extrapolating the bandwidth usage of MTSU over the last five years, MTSU is projected to need at least 13.3 Mbps in 2001, 22.0 Mbps in 2002, and 36 Mbps in 2003. To achieve this, MTSU should purchase 16 Mbps in 2001 at a monthly cost of $12,655.93 (annual $151,871.21), 25 Mbps in 2002 at a monthly cost of $16,626.14 (annual $199,513.64) and 45 Mbps in 2003 at a monthly cost of $22,724.21 (annual $272,690.48). All cost estimates are based on the TECnet/TNII 2000-2001 Price Sheet dated 5/15/2000.