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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Download MUSIC? VIDEOS? What? Out here in the land
of "Dial-Up", we can get photos, but it takes 15 minutes to download one. And
even though Time-Warner ran an internet cable through our property,
after having the sound-break trees clear cut, we still can't hook in to anything
faster. We wouldn't have a problem with bears, as our dogs would run 'em up a
tree instantly, but moose might be an issue. U-Tube? What's that? We can't even
get television reception or cell phone reception here. And Tom Luna thinks Idaho
is ready for the on-line education system? Idiot, and out-of-touch with rural
Idaho. And that's all I've got to say about that....Well not really, but just
one short rant a day keeps the angst away....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Debi Robinson-Smith</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm href="mailto:v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm">Saundra
Lund</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">'vision 2020'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 14, 2011 1:39
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] For Idaho and the
Internet, Life in the Slow Lane</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoPlainText>< <A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/downloads-are-slowest-in-idaho-study-finds.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/downloads-are-slowest-in-idaho-study-finds.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all</A>><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">For Idaho and the
Internet, Life in the Slow Lane<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<H6
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 1.5pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: gray; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">By <A
title="More Articles by Katharine Q. Seelye"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/katharine_q_seelye/index.html?inline=nyt-per">KATHARINE
Q. SEELYE</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></H6>
<H6 style="LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: gray; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Published:
September 13, 2011<o:p></o:p></SPAN></H6>
<P class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">POTLATCH,
Idaho — Barry Ramsay, who owns a small manufacturing company here between two
mountains, remembers the day his Internet connection crashed for several
hours. Work crews had to ride up in snowmobiles to discover the
problem.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“They
said that bears had been rubbing against the towers,” Mr. Ramsay said. In this
mountainous state, where some connections depend on line of sight, even snow
and fog can disrupt the signals. “These are the kind of problems you probably
don’t have in an urban area,” he said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">And,
according to a new study, they are among the problems that have earned Idaho
an unfortunate distinction: it had the slowest Internet speeds in the country
earlier this year for residential customers who were downloading things like
games — a “dismal” average of 318 kilobytes per second. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Translation:
In Idaho, it would take you 9.42 seconds to download a standard music file
compared with 3.36 seconds in Rhode Island, the state with the fastest average
speeds, at 894 kilobytes per second. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The
slowest city, by the way, was also in Idaho: In Pocatello, it would take
nearly 12 seconds to download that music file, according to the study by Pando
Networks, a company that helps consumers accelerate downloads. In the nation’s
fastest city, Andover, Mass., a Boston suburb, it would take just over one
second. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Such
speed distinctions might seem insignificant. But with larger files,
downloading delays of just a few seconds can stretch into crucial minutes or
hours and over time result in losses across many aspects of life, some experts
say, beyond entertainment and games, affecting fields such as public safety,
education and economic growth. It is not clear how many households throughout
this state still have no Internet, but nationally, the figure is 28 percent —
most of them in rural areas. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The
United States as a whole lags in speed, coming in 25th behind South Korea,
which has the fastest speeds in the world. Even Romania clocks in ahead.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“This
is about our overall competitiveness,” said Jonathan Adelstein, the
administrator of the federal government’s Rural Utilities Service and a major
advocate of broadband. “Without broadband, especially in rural areas, kids
might not reach their full potential. And we can’t expect to be competitive in
a global economy.” <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">More
than 11 federally funded projects are under way in Idaho, at a cost of $25
million, to establish high-speed broadband. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Yet
this sparsely populated, mountainous state still lags in residential speeds,
and the Pando study is only the most recent indicator. The federal
government’s National Broadband Map put Idaho at 47th for download speeds of
three megabits or greater. But the Pando study stung the collective psyche of
officials here. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“The
last thing I need is a report that says we don’t have the capacity and speed,
when I know it exists,” said Gynii A. Gilliam, executive director for the
Bannock Development Corporation, a nonprofit group working for economic growth
in the Pocatello area. She noted that Allstate Insurance was opening a $22
million call center in Pocatello and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation
has a service center there. “We have not lost any business because of Internet
speeds,” she said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Indeed,
speeds for Idaho’s businesses can be as fast as those anywhere, if customers
pay for it. The federal government says Idaho is among the states with the
greatest disparity in speeds available in urban areas versus rural areas.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Even
Ms. Gilliam acknowledged that her home service was sluggish.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“It
feels like it’s moving in slow motion,” she said. “A lot of times I’ll start
downloads and not complete them.” She said she was happy as long as she could
get e-mail. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">But
others are concerned. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“We
have not been participating in the telecommunications revolution,” lamented
State Representative John Rusche, a retired pediatrician, a former health
insurance executive and the Democratic leader in the State House. As someone
concerned about electronic medical records, he has been pushing for better
Internet service for years. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The
Pando study examined 4 million actual download speeds of Pando-supported
products — games, antivirus software and television shows — by residential
customers across the country from January to June. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The
study found the fastest residential Internet speeds in New England and the
mid-Atlantic states and the slowest in the mountain west.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Idaho
encapsulates some of the challenges for mountain states. Home to the
Bitterroot Range of the Rockies, the state is crisscrossed by a series of
peaks, ridges, forests, high plateaus and river valleys, making it expensive
to lay cable or build towers. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“We
have a guy here who was dropped into remote, isolated areas of Iraq to set up
their telecommunications systems,” said Christine L. Frei, director of the
Clearwater Economic Development Association in Lewiston. “He told me, ‘We had
better communications in Iraq than you have in central Idaho.’ ”
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Idaho
is also sparsely populated, with an average of 19 people per square mile.
(Rhode Island, by comparison, has more than 1,018 people per square mile.)
Providers have little financial incentive to build a whole infrastructure
across rugged terrain just to reach one or two homes. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“We’re
in business to make a profit,” said Jim Schmit, vice president and general
manager in Idaho for CenturyLink, formerly Qwest and now the state’s largest
Internet service provider. Still, Mr. Schmit said that 92 percent of
CenturyLink customers here had “access” to broadband, though he declined to
say how many of those who could subscribe actually did so.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Bibiana
Nertney, a spokeswoman for the Idaho Department of Commerce, said residential
customers often could not afford broadband. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“It’s
not the lack of availability,” she said. “It’s the lack of demand and what
people are willing to pay. It goes to Idaho’s philosophy and mentality that we
don’t spend more than we need.” <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">While
grants and loans are available to build out the Internet infrastructure,
Kerrie Hurd, the broadband liaison for the federal Department of Agriculture
Office of Rural Development in Idaho, said the grant requirements could be
onerous. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“Not a
lot of communities are willing to put in the application and find the
broadband provider, especially when taxpayers want money to spend on an
essential service, like fixing the streets and updating the sewer system,” she
said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">A
bright spot is the Idaho Education Network, which provides high-speed
broadband to all high schools in the state and allows residents and business
owners to use the service at the schools. Unfortunately, because of cuts to
school funding, some schools are open fewer hours. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">To
address the cost issue, Mr. Schmit of CenturyLink said that starting next
month, the company would offer broadband services at a discount to low-income
customers. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">But
some say more needs to be done. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">“I
don’t think enough people understand just how bad the situation is,” said
Susan Crawford, who focused on broadband issues for President Obama early in
his administration. “It really is time for this country to invest in getting
its citizens online where we don’t have Internet access, especially in rural
areas, so we stop sending jobs to India that we could be sending to Idaho.”
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 17.6pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in"><I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">John
Schwartz contributed reporting from New York.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<P>
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