FAS IT To Disconnect Dial-Up Service

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Information Technology will discontinue its little-used dial-up internet service starting Sept. 30 in an effort to cut costs.

The dial-up service was first offered over 20 years ago, when phone-based modems were considered cutting edge, and has since become something of a relic among Harvard internet users. Current usage has dwindled to an average of two users a day—a level at which FAS IT “can no longer justify the large expense of maintaining the service,” said spokesman Noah S. Selsby ’94.

Almost all of the dial-up users were faculty and staff accessing the modem pool from their homes, Selsby said.

Citing departmental policy, Selsby declined to reveal how much breathing room FAS IT would gain from cutting the service, but said the savings were “substantial.”

Faster alternatives, such as DSL and cable modem, are now the standard, Selsby said, and FAS IT has sent notifications to every account that has used its dial-up service in the last six months.

FAS IT administrators made the decision to cut the service earlier this summer, when all departments and units across the Faculty were combing through their budgets. After announcing last spring that they would have to close a $220 million deficit over the space of two years, FAS administrators have only identified $77 million worth of budget cuts that are set for immediate implementation.

Should users wish to “check their e-mail very, very slowly,” Selsby said with a laugh, third-party dial-up service providers, such as www.netzero.net and www.earthlink.net, remain available.

To reach the FAS IT Service Desk, call 617-495-9000 or e-mail help@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer June Q. Wu can be reached at junewu@fas.harvard.edu.