And as for some of Esbeck's other whines, here's some information recently shared with members of WLA's Library Development & Legislation Committee.
- 95% of BadgerNet’s 2,420 sites either get a 90% subsidy from TEACH or are state agency sites which are required by DOA to use BadgerNet. If these two conditions did not exist, the state would have a network that hardly anyone would use because it is too expensive. (And remember, the $17 million TEACH subsidy goes right back to the telcos.)
- A 1.5Mbps circuit on BadgerNet costs $460/month. Most households have 2-4 times this capacity at well under $100/month. --
- The FCC’s benchmark of “broadband” is 4Mbps. 90% of Wisconsin public libraries have less than this and thus they really don’t have broadband.