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Qwest, ENA and Syringa win IEN contracts(Times-News (Twin Falls, ID) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 29--BOISE -- The Idaho Department of Administration on Wednesday disclosed the winners of contracts to begin implementation of the proposed $50 million Idaho Education Network as Qwest and Education Networks of America. The two companies -- as well as Syringa, which is working with ENA -- will share $10 million to begin the first year of the program, but actual costs still have to be worked out, said Idaho Department of Administration Chief-of-Staff Teresa Luna. The companies were mailed letters of intent to do business last week but official disclosure was embargoed until a protest period ended for companies to challenge the winning bids. Qwest -- which helped develop a similar broadband education network in Utah -- is credited with bringing the IEN concept to the Legislature more than a year ago. And, like the other companies involved, it holds a presence in Idaho politics through a strong lobbying effort. In the two-year 2008 election cycle, Qwest, ENA and Syringa contributed about $100,000 to various Idaho political campaigns, according to the Idaho secretary of state. The IEN is designed to go beyond existing online courses, such as the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, to deliver a broader range of courses to newly wired Idaho classrooms. Its creation under state law also provides it to spur economic development and assist state government telecommunications. The contracts, if funded, will also allow the state to transition from older state-owned services and equipment to a new model owned and managed by a service provider, Luna wrote in an e-mail. But funding must be secured in order for the project to continue, and state budget writers have expressed skepticism with starting new programs while cutting budgets for education and health and welfare. Officials say 70 percent of the five-year, $50 million IEN project would be reimbursed by the federal government, with the rest coming in matching funds from the state. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's 2010 budget request includes $3 million to cover the state's share of the first phase. Meanwhile, Administration Director Mike Gwartney has found the $100,000 in his budget to apply for federal funding to beat a mid-February deadline to make an application for federal matching funds to keep the project on track. That means Gwartney would no longer need a "legal way around" the Legislature if it refuses the request, which he told the Times-News he had found last week. IEN development is overseen by Gwartney's department because the project's bigger than its name implies. The infrastructure links classrooms, but it will also be used by economic development, public safety and other state agencies detailed in provisions included in legislation the Legislature adopted unanimously. To see more of The Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.magicvalley.com Copyright (c) 2009, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |