Networking and Telecommunications’ (N&T) mission is to support the research and academic mission of the university by providing reliable and responsive communications and building systems technology at the best value. Governance is provided through the ITLC's Networking and Telecommunications Standing Comittee.
Our services and scale are summarized below, followed by current initiatives. Approximately half our activities are funded centrally, the rest are fee-for-service.
Networking
Designs, purchases, installs and operates all wireless and most wired networks for the university. Colleges, schools and units generally support local users’ needs, determine capacity, perform moves, adds, and changes, and coordinate with N&T for services provided. Expenses inside a building are funded by Units occupying the building through N&T (e.g. wireless access points and ethernet switches). Most expenses outside a building are funded centrally (e.g. network backbone and Internet). Specialty networks, such as the residence halls or high security environments, are cost-recovered by Service Centers. A few metrics:
- 15,000 pieces of equipment create the network
- 210,000 wireless devices use it
- 90,000 wired devices use it
- Service requests: 4,660 customer tickets a year (an additional 6,300 resilience tickets)
- Reliability/Availability to date:
- Internet: 99.998%
- Backbone: 100%
- Wi-F:i 99.999%
Voice
Provides a variety of telephony services as a cost recovery Service Center. Colleges, schools, and units purchase these services from N&T, except for Institutional lines (elevator, celebrated entrances, call towers, etc.) which are funded centrally. A few metrics:
- 21,000 subscribers
- 15,000 VoIP sets
- 3,000 analog sets
- 1,300 MS Teams and 150 Bria soft clients
- Service requests: 1,600 customer tickets a year
- Reliability/Availability to date:
- PBX: 100%
- Voicemail: 100%
Events and A/V (Being retired 8/2022)
Provides event media support (e.g. guest speakers, commencement, football, IP streaming), installation and maintenance of building and A/V systems (cable television, radios, intercoms, PA systems, conference room integration, etc.) as a cost recovery Service Center. A few metrics:
- 170 events per year
- 370 CATV drops (University Housing and Dinning operates CATV for residence halls)
This service is being retired 8/31/2022. See:
Cabling
Installs and maintains the university’s cable infrastructure as a cost recovery Service Center. Most in-building expenses are funded by Colleges, schools, and units directly or through construction and renovation projects (e.g. cable for an ethernet port). Most inter-building expenses are funded through construction and renovation projects (e.g. fiber across campus). Contractors and temporary labor are utilized extensively. A few metrics:
- 270,000 copper cables
- 60,000 strands of fiber
- 800 telecommunication closets
- 17 miles of ductbank and 6.6 miles of tunnels
- Service requests: 350 customer tickets a year
Facilities Design
Designs and inspects communication facilities, cabling systems, pathways, and related infrastructure to meet university needs for construction and renovation projects as a common good. A few metrics:
- 11 Capital Project and Construction projects in progress (FY21-26, $797M)
- 548 Planning Management and Construction Services projects with ~1,126 direct schedule work orders in a given year (FY21-22, $98M)
Cellular
Manages mobile carrier activities across the campus to expand and improve coverage. Full outdoor coverage is achieved at carrier expense. In-building systems require College, school, or unit investment through N&T. A few metrics:
- 45 sites (rooftop, building, ground)
- 6 in-building systems
- 3 major carriers
Internal Business Services
Services are supported by a work order and billing systems along with warehousing logistics for itself and other ITS units. A few metrics:
- Business requests
- 97,000 transactions billing $16,000,000 in a year
- 2,000 work orders containing 15,000 items
- Warehouse requests: 5,400 tickets a year
- 1,600 shipments received a year