The University of Adelaide has signed a contract worth $3.5 million dollars with Macquarie Telecom to manage fixed lines and the mobile network.

The contract is for three years and also includes a discounted mobile phone call plan, based on a corporate rate, for staff and students at the university.

Dave Savage, University of Adelaide manager of networking and telecommunications, said the university was specifically looking for a single rate across all its networks through a multi-carrier telephony network.

"Previously we had a single provider for landlines and mobile, but we also received numerous bills from Telstra for incoming line rental, conference calls and other services," Savage said.

"We went to tender looking to consolidate how costs were managed across different departments. Our bills for landlines and mobile phones combined to around $70,000 a month.

"The deal will reduce the cost of mobile phone calls by at least 30 percent over the year, with further savings expected in future years as cost controls are refined and additional savings will be gained in administration through the consolidation of invoices."

The university currently has around 700 mobile phones. Part of the rollout includes using a Web-based reporting tool provided by Macquarie called FleetView, which enables cost analysis from a user, department or fleet perspective, and the ability to define business hours for individual users to specify when the university will cover call costs.