Tenants will have to pay about 15 euros a month for the service. At present, students pay 5.35 euros for television. Internet is free because they use the Wageningen UR network, but this free internet connection is not very stable. Idealis has therefore been negotiating with the cable company for a while to get ‘a good connection for a very reasonable price,’ says Jan Harkema from Idealis. The price for the TV subscription was agreed 24 years ago with UPC’s predecessor, says Harkema. That contract is about to expire and prices are higher these days. New buildings such as Bellostraat, Javastraat and Hoefweg (Ede) already have internet and TV via UPC.
‘More than 10,000 student units in the Netherlands are now connected up to this service,’ says Harkema to emphasize that students have no need to worry about the quality of the service. Idealis will meet with the tenants’ representative body (SFO) and the Student Council on 26 March to discuss how to inform tenants about the new package. Students in Idealis buildings will be getting all the necessary information in April. ‘All the buildings that accept the offer should be connected up to UPC (soon to be part of Ziggo) by September or October at the latest,’ explains Harkema.