On WiscNet, Republicans Cry "Please Don't Call Us Anymore"

WI repups just want to hand this cooperative over to their cronies! Saved for now but on the chopping block next budget.




http://publius9.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-wiscnet-republicans-cry-please-dont.html

Thursday, June 16, 2011


On WiscNet, Republicans Cry "Please Don't Call Us Anymore"

Ars Technica, a technology news website, chronicled the swift change in Republican plans for WiscNet from Monday to Wednesday, resulting from the massive public outcry. UW-Madison economic development professor Andy Lewis told Ars that "Legislators said, 'please don't call us anymore.'" In fact, a previous Ars article and another technology news website, Slashdot, were instrumental in quickly spreading momentum against the changes.

As of Monday, WiscNet, Wisconsin's research and education network that provides high-quality Internet access to most of Wisconsin's schools and universities, was set to be killed in the budget passed early this morning. AT&T would take over the services provided by WiscNet, at higher cost and (as many of us experience at home) low quality. The reason, AT&T feels that WiscNet and UW-Madison directly and unfairly competes with it, but really, all AT&T wanted was another corporate handout.

The changes would have kept UW-Madison from participating in the ultra-fast research network called Internet2. Without such access, UW-Madison would not be able to compete as one of the world's top research universities. The changes also would have made WiscNet return the $30 million federal grant that it was awarded in 2010 to lay more fiber optic cable, something AT&T has been unwilling to do much of in Wisconsin even though their competitor Verizon is rolling out fiber to people's homes in its markets........................................

It's been there for eight years. IMO, they won't turn it on until they can kill net neutrality.

this state.

who voted for you all first and foremost? We the people should get the best deals for the least amount of money. But that isn't happening. These governors are running their states like they are CEOs. Government is not a business. It is there to work for the people and not to be the middle guy to help a politican and corporations.

at a higher cost just to help out their cronies - these guys aren't running things as a corporation, they're running them as their own personal reward system so they can get kickbacks campaign contributions and jobs for loyalists