For students living on-campus, dialing locally has become easier and affordable this semester.
Through a free local calling plan provided by AT&T, UB students can now dial just nine and then the number, rather than using an authorization code that charges for local calls.
According to Marian Tetreault, senior staff associate for University Residence Halls, 32 percent of students didn't even use the university phone services at all last semester. Tetreault said most students would rather use a cell phone, instead of paying the charge for residence halls phone usage.
Caitlin Crick, a sophomore fine arts major, said she was pleased about the decision to implement free local calling.
"I only call locally so I'm pretty happy about it," Crick said.
In the 2004 spring semester, UB paid for 4,800 phone lines in the residence halls, while only about 70 percent were in use, according to Tetreault.
Prior to free local calling, UB paid $875,000 a year for dial tone service, she said. Now, under the new plan, UB will pay an additional fifteen to twenty thousand dollars a year.
"It was a quality of life improvement for students," Tetreault said.
Meghan McAdam, a junior theater major, said she was excited to be able to use her room phone more often.
"That would be much easier because I'm from around here and I never call long distance," McAdam said. "It's a necessity for students who don't have a cell phone to have this service."
Free local calls, however, may prove to be merely a flash in the pan. According to Tetreault, AT&T's contract expires in June 2005, the new local calling service might not make the contract cut.
To get the word out about the new phone options, University Residence Halls and Apartments sent out an email to the student list-serve.
Other students' reactions to the plan were lukewarm.
"I guess that the service is cool but I'll still use my cell phone," said Peter Kim, a senior social sciences major. "I use my cell phone for local calls out of habit."
Megan Benjamin, a sophomore English and theater major, said she hasn't been affected by the plan alteration.
"I think it's nice for other people, but I live in Brooklyn so for me it's still eight cents a minute," Benjamin said.
