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CSU tech deal unravels

So much for the public-private partnership that California State University officials had hoped would bolster the state's technology edge and wire campuses from the Oregon border to San Diego.GTE and Fujitsu have pulled out of the California Educational Technology Intitiative, or CETI, just three months after Microsoft and Hughes Electronics backed away.
Written by Lisa M. Bowman, Contributor
So much for the public-private partnership that California State University officials had hoped would bolster the state's technology edge and wire campuses from the Oregon border to San Diego.

GTE and Fujitsu have pulled out of the California Educational Technology Intitiative, or CETI, just three months after Microsoft and Hughes Electronics backed away.

CSU now says it will not complete the controversial plan, which called for the four companies to form a corporation to spend about $300 million on telecommunications and computer equipment throughout the system. CSU officials said they were forced to turn to private funding because the state couldn't come up with the necessary funds. "No university can maintain its academic quality and remain competitive if it is not on the cutting edge of technology," CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a statement. "The CSU will spend the next several weeks assessing potential new funding sources and developing new approaches with current and new industry participants."

Search for new partners
CSU spokesman Ken Swisher said the system would try to use its size as a bargaining tool to attract new partners. CSU has about 344,000 students. "We still think that technology is something we need to get to our students, faculty and staff," Swisher said, adding that public-private partnerships are an increasing trend in higher education.

A Fujitsu spokesman said the CETI deal needed a lot of work, especially the part regarding the Internet service provider, which would have been GTE under the terms of the deal. GTE had no comment. When Microsoft pulled out in April, the company said CSU was asking for a financial commitment that was just too steep.

Faculty members and some students had fought the deal, holding rallies and writing letters, fearing that the plan would prevent them from using technology other than that provided by the four companies. That was a particular concern among users of Apple's Macintosh, a popular brand among students and educators. They also were particularly wary of Microsoft, which is mired in a DOJ antitrust investigation because of allegedly strong-armed business practices.


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