Summary
1. There is undoubtedly liability concerns in not giving students the opportunity to have a landline. 2. However, the key reason for not eliminating a voice fee is evidently the expectation of having an “infrastructure to deliver voice[,] data[,] and cable over fiber optics.” 3. The university will be looking for a significantly higher fee for this level of service.
Analysis
The University of Maryland should really be looked upon as an extension of the overall state government. The state is very short on cash. Like other local government entities, Maryland has a wild imagination when it comes to initiating or increasing “fees.” It is no different at the university, which has apparently been raising compulsory fees on parking, student unions and recreation services.
Once any kind of tax is imposed, bureaucrats, including at state schools, loathe lowering or removing them. It does not matter if over 99 percent of the student population uses cell phones. In keeping the total telecom fee at about $12, perhaps with all of the advantages of fiber, it could easily be raised to $25 in the future.
It is notable that fiber optics is referred to as the “elimination of landlines” in the source article. Although fiber is obviously a wireline service, it may become the case that eventually “landlines” in the lexicon only refer to copper.
