Northwestern will begin offering a pilot program of Xfinity On Campus, a service under Comcast, to up to 700 students starting May 1, Residential Services officials said.

Paul Riel, executive director of Residential Services, said the University will pilot Xfinity On Campus in the five residential buildings that received wireless upgrades over Spring Break, including Jones Residential College and Communications Residential College.

The pilot will last from May 1 to June 2, and students chosen to participate will receive emails with access credentials within the next weeks.

The service will allow students to stream 125 channels and to access Xfinity On Demand, Riel said. However, Comcast’s DVR service will not be included in the pilot.

Riel said Residential Services hopes to choose between Hulu Plus, which was piloted during February and March, and Comcast, barring any new offers from other entertainment services, in time to have one of the services ready to implement campus-wide by next fall.

“We’ll be using the month of June to digest the data and interpret what students liked about both programs and hopefully move forward with a decision related to one or the other for an offering for fall,” he said.

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