Cambridge Edging Toward Cable TV Contract

Entertainment cable channels like Home Box Office, Showtime, and Music Television (MTV) could be making their debut in Harvard dormitories as soon as spring 1986.

As four contenders get ready to submit their final bids for Cambridge's cable television market this month, Harvard officials are preparing to investigate the ramifications of hooking the University up with the city's new system.

Robert H. Scott, Vice President for Administration, will chair a new committee to study the feasibility of wiring residential and non-residential University facilities for cable, based on prior experience with two Harvard-operated cable systems.

Other issues to be addressed by the committee include University policy toward student subscribers, damage to Harvard property resulting from installing underground wiring, and potential uses for a cable network.

Impact

"The business of providing cable television to Houses and buildings is a consumer kind of thing," said Stephen C. Hall, who heads the Office for Information Technology.

"It's going to happen, we've got to do it, and we've got to do it in an orderly way," Hall said last week.

Hall emphasized that laying a cable system would mean much more than just putting cable television in dorms, adding that Harvard will explore additional uses for the cable system.

"We should equip the future student's room with the capability to carry voice and video signals--from the highest tech room to the average dorm room--five years down the road," said Hall, citing cable as a means, to transmit audio, visual, textual and computer data information.

But cable could have a much greater impact on Harvard, according to Joseph G. Sakey, director of Cambridge's specially-created Office of Cable Television. Sakey predicts that the University might someday broadcast heavily subscribed courses to students or televise commencement ceremonies, Extension School courses, and guest lectures like those sponsored by the Law School Forum to the local community.

"Harvard students themselves will even be able to speak and act on the tube" through public access to the local cable station, Sakey added.

How Soon?

Cautiously waiting for ten years, the city finally opened bidding for its cable license in February after Cambridge voters supported referendum Question No. 2 and permitted officials to initiate the bidding process. Last July Cambridge issued state-mandated specifications to guide interested cable companies. Each franchise, must now submit its final application by October 22.

Following a series of public hearings scheduled for December, the city manager is expected to award the $18 million contract to an operator in January.

Construction Pace

"Depending on the franchise and how they construct the system, and barring any unforeseen types of things, my guess is that roughly one year after they start constructing, the city will be nearly wired," said Electronics Professor A. A. Pandiscio, who currently overseas Harvard's two existing cable systems.

One network, the fifteen year-old Harvard Information Transfer System (HITS), performs "relatively routine" tasks such as telecasting medical school seminars and transmitting data. Pandiscio added that because HITS is built with outdated technology, it only has the capacity to carry one program at any given time.

The recently-installed Faculty of Arts and Sciences Local Area Network (FAS/LAN), the other cable system, can transmit data to eight buildings between Aiken Laboratory and Sever Hall.

Pandiscio said he welcomes the city's new cable system since it might connect more Harvard buildings, especially in the outlying parts of the campus.

"Because there is no steam tunnel access to the Radcliffe area, Harvard is very interested in laying additional cable," Pandiscio added.

How Successful?

Most agree that the success of cable television in Cambridge largely depends on its penetration into 41,000 local households and nearly 7,000 Harvard, MIT, and Lesley dorm units.

Yet another measure of cable's success in the city will be whether or not the selected franchise will provide municipal access to residents, enabling local groups to air special interest programming. Cable Commissioneer Sakey requested such access in the city's 300-page report to the four applicants and asked the franchises to supply studio equipment, mobile production units, and trained personnel to assist Cantabrigians.

"This is a revolutionary concept--people finally in control of their media environment," said Edward C. Casey '76, of the city's cable commission.

"One can dream up all sorts of potential interactions between Harvard, MIT and Cambridge," Pansdiscio speculated.