The second high speed access option, ADSL, uses existing phone wires but take special equipment to convert analog phone lines to digital service, Rocks said. Initially, NMSU paired with European telecom provider Erickson to test ADSL service for students. Most of the problems were attributed to phone lines. This month NMSU cancelled its second trial days before testing was to begin. This time the problem was with the vendor, Cisco.
Cisco is one of the world's largest computer network providers.
Morgan Collins, an NMSU student, was one of the students signed up for the ADSL trials. Yet Rocks insists NMSU does not have the funds available to offer high speed access to all of student housing. Rocks said he plans to conduct a survey to see which on campus students want high speed service the most, and then implement service dorm by dorm. Expanding the modem pool is an option, Rocks said, but its been a long process to convince state lawmakers that this is a needed service. Nothing has made it to the house floor.