How will the Department of Administration define “broadband”?
According to the Federal Communications Commission, “broadband” can be as little as 200 k bits per second – a speed that does not permit a number of common Internet applications. So, Problem #1: we don’t appear to have the map, nor the definitions that would be required to create the map and decide where more service is needed. That brings us to Problem #2: According to an article by Jared Hopkins in the Times-News, Gwartney has apparently already awarded the contracts—and a good chunk of them are apparently to Qwest. You know, Qwest. The company that said that everyone in Idaho who wanted broadband already had it. The company that donated more than $60,000 during the two-year 2008 election cycle, according to the Secretary of State’s office (as reported by the Times-News). The company that, in the 2004 Legislative session, pushed for more deregulation,—and after losing by a single vote, pushed again in 2005 and won, partly because Senator Jack Noble (R-Kuna), who had singlehandedly ki
