New Mobile Device Contracts Pay Off

University IT’s recent efforts to renegotiate mobile device contracts with wireless carriers will pay off this month with lower rates and more valuable services.

With over 9,000 mobile device users on 10,000 devices, the Stanford community stands to save over $3 million annually under new contract terms with AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.

For the School of Humanities and Sciences, which has about 270 mobile device users, the yearly savings will top $90,000.

“The significant savings in mobile device cost means we have more money to divert to areas that directly support teaching, learning, and research,” said Steve Olson, the school’s Senior Associate Dean for Finance and Administration. “We are grateful for UIT’s proactive work in making this happen, not only for us but for the entire university.”

Besides more money for schools and departments to spend on other priorities, the new contracts – effective Sept. 1 – also provide faculty, staff, and medical professionals an even more valuable service, including unlimited data and text for the majority of plans.

“University IT is committed to providing the highest value service for the lowest cost and this was a long exercise in ensuring that was not just a goal, but also a reality for Stanford,” said Mellani Miller, Manager of Mobile Devices Services, who partnered with University IT’s Vendor Management team in the negotiations.

Mobile devices include cellular phones, smart phones, tablets, and data cards.

New contract wins

The negotiations resulted in 25 to 30 percent lower rates for each of the 30 or so departments and schools that have mobile device accounts with UIT. Stanford Athletics, for example, will save more than $70,000 in the coming year.

“With our coaching and support staff always on the move for competition and recruiting and not always able to connect to a WiFi network, data usage is a big concern for Stanford Athletics,” said Tony LaTorra, Director of Finance for Stanford Athletics. “The change to unlimited data will save our department tens of thousands of dollars annually.”

LaTorra added: “UIT has been wonderful in making sure our users have the proper mobile devices and plans in place to keep us competing at a national level.”

Other wins of the newly amended contracts include:

• Unlimited domestic data for AT&T and Sprint users, eliminating overage charges.
• Free unlimited domestic text for all AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon users.
• A 20 percent discount on all bundled international plans from AT&T.
• Simplified ordering by consolidating the number of plan options by 50 percent.

The UIT advantage

For schools and departments, enrolling in UIT’s Mobile Device Services provides a significant advantage over independently navigating these services.

Through an expert team of negotiators and mobile device specialists, UIT ensures a broad range of service plan offerings – including unlimited data plan options – at lower rates than are available through individual plans. Additionally, UIT manages the service plans with the wireless carriers and directly bills the charges to the departments, eliminating individual reimbursement.

“The new lower rates and unlimited data plan options, paired with our great vendor partnerships and exemplary end user support, should make enrolling in the UIT Mobile Devices Services an easy choice,” Miller said.

Learn more

To learn more about or enroll in UIT’s Mobile Device Services, visit the MDS website.

Note: There are no changes to the monthly discounts available to faculty and staff on their personal mobile device service plans. Learn more about service discounts for personal use.