Idaho Governor Urges Continued Funding for State's School Broadband Network, Seeks Contract Rebid
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) asked the state’s legislature to provide $8.9 million in funding for the Idaho Education Network (IEN) broadband network for the upcoming fiscal year, saying during a Monday news conference that he wants to rebid the…
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contract for the network. IEN is in limbo after a state district court judge ruled in November that the contract that established the network in 2009 was illegal because the state later stripped original contractor Syringa Networks of its role in the network and gave it to what was then Qwest, now known as CenturyLink. “We still have to review with the judge, we still have to review with the participants, a path forward,” Otter said. The state legislature appropriated $11.4 million last year to keep IEN running, replacing funding provided by the federal government until 2013. The FCC had been paying 70 percent of the IEN’s costs via the E-rate program, but stopped funding the project amid Syringa’s lawsuit. Idaho’s education and administration departments cautioned the state’s school districts last week to find backup broadband services for the coming fiscal year in the event the state is forced to discontinue IEN. “We want to be proactive about ensuring that Idaho school districts are held harmless no matter the outcome of legal or legislative action,” state officials said in a letter to the school districts.