By Quincy Fuehne

An unexpected surprise greeted students as they returned to campus, leaving many frustrated and annoyed.

Students received an email on August 7 from Michael McCabe, Director of IT Services, notifying them that the university would no longer have cable services, but that IT was in the works of getting something new. The previous provider, Adams Fiber, stopped servicing bulk cable service to big accounts.

That provider notified the university last semester.

Once notified, the IT department began searching for a new provider. They decided to go with Xfinity on Campus, a Comcast program that allows students to stream live television as well as many other on-demand programs. Eventually students will be able to stream QUTV News through the program too.

Xfinity on Campus can be streamed to any mobile device, desktop and laptop. It works with Apple, Android and Kindle.

IT has been working with Comcast on this project since the beginning of the summer. They hope to have everything finalized soon.

Many students are frustrated with the lengthy timeline of this project.

“We had all summer and we still don’t have any cable which really upsets me,” Maddie Spagnola, sophomore, said.

Students are missing out on sports games, local news and shows that are not available on Netflix, Hulu or other streaming services.

“Like sports games, like the NBA, are not available to us anymore and that really, really makes me mad,” Spagnola said.

Students realize they could keep up with news and sports on social media, but they prefer to watch it live.

Other students turned on cable television for background noise when they did work in their rooms last year.

“It’s kind of annoying because I’m the kind of person that will turn it on and then go work on something just to have the background noise, so it’s kind of frustrating because I don’t have that now,” Grace Schraufnagel, sophomore, said. 

Schraufnagel now turns on Netflix or Hulu on her computer to fill the void. Although, if she is trying to do work on her computer, this forces her to multitask with it and causes an even bigger frustration.

Some courses require students to watch live television for assignments, but without cable, students are unable to complete their assignments or are forced to go somewhere off campus that has cable.

IT is working week by week to get this service to students and think they are reaching the finish line.

“We hope to have it to you very quickly,” Network Administrator Blaine Hill said.

All students living on campus have to visit the IT office in Francis Hall and sign paperwork before IT can create an account for you.

Once you sign the paperwork and are given a login, you will have full access on campus and limited access off campus for free.

The service works on the Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Until the service is up and running, IT suggests using streaming services like Netflix and Hulu or using your parents’ cable account if you have that option.