[Vision2020] Perhaps the MSD should follow the Cd'A school district's example

[Kevin Owen]

Tom and others,

As the owner of First Step Internet, LLC, located here in Moscow,  I will point out that we too are local and have been working with the MSD for many years by providing a portion of their Internet service via fiber.  We have also installed many indoor multi-unit wi-fi wireless systems.  We certainly have the ability to work with our local school district to provide them with this service and local support.

We have previously, and will again,  reach out to the many schools in the region that we currently support to remind them that we are an available option / solution.

Kevin Owen



On Jul 31, 2013, at 2:12 PM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com<mailto:thansen at moscow.com>> wrote:
The Ednetics option is less expensive, more reliable, and (DAMMIT!) they're local.

Courtesy of today's (July 31, 2013) Spokesman-Review.

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CdA schools to pass on statewide Wi-Fi contract

The Coeur d’Alene School District has announced that it’s selected Ednetics, a Post Falls firm, to provide Wi-Fi service districtwide, including all 17 schools, rather than sign onto a controversial statewide high school Wi-Fi contract signed last week by state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna with a Nashville firm.

The $278,000 deal with Ednetics is up for final school board approval on Monday, but it’s been long in the works. It’s part of a bond issue voters approved last August.

Wendell Wardell, chief operating officer for the district, said Tuesday that the district wanted one platform for all its schools, not two; it wanted local support for the products; and it wanted a “sturdy system” that could be up and running as soon as possible. He said the Ednetics network will be higher-powered than what the state’s offering; it’ll cost much less; and it’ll be “online and running by Nov. 1.”

Plus, Wardell said, “We’ll own the equipment, as opposed to a vendor owning the equipment and having it reside in our buildings. We didn’t feel comfortable with that.”

When he compared costs between the state network and the Ednetics network for Coeur d’Alene’s three high schools, Wardell said, he found that service from Ednetics would cost less than $6,000 per high school, while the state contract’s costs could be around $23,000 per school.

School districts have until midnight Thursday to decide whether to opt into the statewide contract. “We’ve got a better system,” Wardell said. “We’ve got a better mousetrap, and we’re pretty excited about it.”
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Ednetics
http://www.ednetics.com/
Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."


- John Lennon



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