Press Release

Indiana University begins trials of DSL Internet service with Smithville Telephone Company

BLOOMINGTON, IN — Today the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology announced that it has begun trials of digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet service in the Bloomington area with Smithville Telephone Company. This new partnership demonstrates the University's continuing commitment to providing students, faculty, and staff with increased access to computing, data storage, and information and network services from their off-campus residences.

DSL provides download speeds up to 50 times faster than standard modems and up to 12 times faster than ISDN (e.g., the entire Encyclopedia Britannica can be downloaded in approximately 27 minutes using DSL technology). DSL works with existing telephone service, allows subscribers to talk on their phone while connected to the Internet, and eliminates the need for a dial-up connection.

"As technology advances from today's connections of thousands of bits-per-second to speeds in the hundreds-of-thousands to millions of bits-per-second, IU will rely more and more on the developing commercial infrastructure that has blossomed as the Internet has developed into a household commodity," said Brian Voss, Associate Vice President for Telecommunications. "As commercial offerings become broader and with the advent of new communication technologies such as DSL and cable modems, we will continue to seek to leverage the power of IU's 100,000-member community to secure the market's best rates and services. Trials with other service providers will follow in the months ahead."

Smithville Telephone Company, headquartered in Ellettsville, Indiana since 1922, is offering members of the IU community in its service area a special installation package and monthly DSL service starting at $44.95. Under the terms of their offer, IU community members will receive a DSL modem and custom on-site installation for a one-time fee of $150.

An important feature of these trials is that IU is building a very high speed peering connection with the Smithville Telephone Company network. A path under construction will provide more than one billion bits-per-second of capacity (a gigabit connection), ensuring that network traffic will flow easily between the University and its constituents. "We are excited to be building such a large link between our network and IU's network," said Tony Walton, DSL Product Development Manager for Smithville Telephone Company. "This chance to provide high quality service to the IU community is a great opportunity for us."

Special introductory package pricing is available today through May 4, 2001. To find out more about this offer and additional services available, contact Smithville Telephone Company toll free at 866-764-8485.