This past September, Tulane Technology Services and the Division of Student Affairs, in collaboration with Housing and Residence Life, conducted a survey and focus group determining if students would prefer faster internet instead of residence hall cable services.

According to Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Services Tom Gerace, Tulane staff noted a decrease in students bringing televisions being brought into residence hall rooms during move-in day, which prompted the decision to evaluate student preferences. 

The results of the survey and focus group largely indicated that students were streaming videos through the internet more often than watching cable television.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a fundamental shift in the way that you and I consume video content,” Gerace said. 

According to Gerace, an important question in the focus group and survey was how students believe that Tulane should spend its money when faced with a choice between continuing cable services or investing in higher-speed internet. More than 75 percent of respondents said that they wanted an improvement in internet service while only 16 percent said that they preferred cable services. 

“It would most definitely benefit both the Tulane administration and the student body to allocate its money towards faster internet, which is used by all of the student body and the administration, whereas cable is not used by everyone,” freshman Mary Catherine Stovall said.

Based on the survey and focus group results, Tulane Technology Services decided to discontinue cable services to individual rooms, including the online IPTV service, but will continue to feed cable to common spaces in on-campus residence halls.