After an influx of sign-ups at the beginning of this semester, the Center for Computing and Information Technology's UA Connect Internet service is still 149 spots shy of its goal of 507 subscribers.

The pilot program, which began in late May, allows faculty, students and staff to have home access to the Internet through their modems.

The program is running on a nine-month trial period and costs users $14.85 per month for 120 hours of Internet access, with a $2.40 charge for each additional hour, said Ted Frohling, CCIT principal systems programmer. He said a $25 setup fee, which includes software, is also charged.

The program was set to begin in January, but equipment problems delayed the start until May, Frohling said. He said he will analyze the service's effectiveness during the trial period in late September and early October and decide whether to allow continuation of the service.

If the service is discontinued, Frohling said, enough time will be given for current subscribers to change services. He also said CCIT would not lose much money, if any at all, because all the service's modems would be transferred to the existing on-campus computer dial-up service.

The UA Connect service allows the same power and technology that one would have in a campus computer lab, Frohling said. He said that, unlike dialing into the campus computer system through SABIO, the service gives users full and direct access to the Internet.

Frohling said access includes Netscape and other graphical World Wide Web browsers.

Michael Tieri, first-year cultural anthropology graduate student, said he subscribed to the UA Connect service because of its graphical browsers.

"A lot of the impact in the Internet is the graphics, and a lot of the Native American Indian studies I work on need visual applications," Tieri said.

Ninety-six modems were installed for the test at the cost of about $100,000, Frohling said. He said the modems can send out 50,000 to 60,000 bytes of information per second.

Frohling said the service has not run into any equipment problems to date. He said someone dialing the service will get a busy signal only 2 percent of the time.

Initially, Frohling said, the service was priced to break even, but if the slots fill up and a profit is made, CCIT will either increase capacity or lower the cost.

"My hope would be that access can be provided for free for everyone, but a lot of that depends on funding," Frohling said.

Currently, Northern Arizona University offers its students home Internet connections absolutely free, Frohling said. He said Arizona State University has contracted four private Internet services to provide access for its students.

---

Daily Wildcat News Opinions Sports PoliceBeat Comics