Cell Phones Hurt University Budgets

By RENE’E BEASLEY JONES

San Diego Business Journal

Kristen Moyer didn’t know her cell phone use had an impact on San Diego State University’s bottom line.

The sophomore didn’t opt to use the university’s traditional landlines which cost 10 cents a minute for long-distance calls when she lived in the dorm last year. Instead, Moyer paid a flat fee of $39.99 a month for 2,500 minutes of cell phone use with no long-distance or roaming charges.

Moyer and countless other students who use cell phones instead of university services are costing schools millions of dollars in lost fees. SDSU, for example, will lose $80,000 this year double the amount from the past two years combined because fewer students use dorm phones, said Riny Ledgerwood, director of telecommunications and network services.

The university first noticed a dip in revenues from long-distance calls about two years ago. The $80,000 represents a 40 percent drop in revenues from that source, Ledgerwood said.

Since 1987, SDSU has operated as its own mini-phone company. It buys bulk service from AT & T; and marks up the price to turn a profit.

Ledgerwood said other sources of revenue help make up for losses due to cell phone use, such as voice-mail charges and new buildings on campus that mean additional dial tones.

“We anticipated this would happen,” Ledgerwood said. “We were prepared. If this was our (the department’s) sole income, we’d be in trouble. But it’s not, so we’re OK.”

At UC San Diego, students contract directly with Pacific Bell for phone service in dorm rooms, so the university isn’t out any income.

However, university officials have seen an unexpected increase in expenses because of students’ cell phone use. When UCSD officials call students, even those who live or work on campus, the school often incurs a long-distance charge because students’ cell phones come from areas outside San Diego’s area code.

UCSD officials didn’t know the exact tally on those expenses.