AT&T to add new cell phone tower on campus

AT&T will add a cell phone tower to campus to combat poor wireless coverage, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.

IU and AT&T officials are still negotiating the terms of the deal, which would involve IU leasing land to AT&T for the tower. MacIntyre said a start date for construction on the tower is still unknown. Currently, the company does not have any towers on campus, said AT&T spokesman Chris Bauer.

AT&T has been updating software and hardware across the campus this week. Bauer said the company is already seeing improvement in its coverage.

Since the start of the semester, AT&T has seen an increase in demand for service in Bloomington.

“We discovered that the current cell towers were not adequate for all the usage,” MacIntyre said. “AT&T was not prepared for the volume of traffic.”

At IU’s request, AT&T submitted a proposal to the University this week that detailed short- and long-term solutions to the network problem.

MacIntyre said IU submitted a Request for Proposal to AT&T on Sept. 9 asking for ways it can improve cell phone reception on campus. Bauer said the company had until Sept. 15 to submit the proposal.

IU and AT&T currently have contracts to provide discounts to students, staff and faculty. Per the deal, AT&T is expected to provide service across the campus, MacIntyre said.

The parties will continue to negotiate the deal this week and are yet to set any final plans.