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Cisco 3945 router
The saga of West Virginia’s use of $126.3 million in federal stimulus funds to build better broadband is coming under increasing scrutiny this week as the state’s legislative auditor demanded to know who approved the controversial purchase of $24 million for Internet routers many institutional users say are incompatible or too costly to run.
Aaron Allred has given Homeland Security director Jimmy Gianato, administering the broadband project, until Dec. 21 to provide answers.
More than 1,000 Cisco routers valued at $22,600 each were purchased with taxpayer funds for “community anchor institutions” including schools, public safety, and library users. Why those specific routers were chosen and who approved the purchase have gone unanswered. The Charleston Gazette reports just one router model was considered — one designed for hundreds of concurrent users, despite the fact many rural libraries and other institutions maintain as few as three computer terminals. The auditor also wanted to know why they were purchased all at once, forcing the state to store them for an extended period.
“How come representatives of WVNET [the state’s Internet services agency] were not consulted?” the auditor asked. “How come the Cisco 3945 routers were not right-sized for the areas they were to be installed? Who made the suggestion to buy one size, and who made the decision?”
The auditor also wanted to know why the state appears to be vastly exceeding its budget to upgrade a wireless emergency communications network. The state is on track to spend $50 million for an upgrade it budgeted $30 million to complete.
The newspaper continued to receive word the costly routers are being rejected by a growing number of institutions.
- The West Virginia State Police can’t use 70 routers assigned to detachments because the devices aren’t compatible with the agency’s voicemail system;
- More than 160 libraries have declined to hook up the routers to a new high-speed fiber-optic network because the state Library Commission can’t afford to pay for faster Internet service;
- An additional 175 routers remained boxed up in storage – more than two years after they were purchased.
The state is hurrying to spend the remaining grant funds available to it before the federal government’s Jan. 31 deadline. One state official planned to appeal to the federal government for an extension, blaming the impact of storm damage from Hurricane Sandy.
why do they still don’t know who signed off the P.O.???
I personally think it is a case of them not wanting to know. I will not be surprised if there is a Verizon tie-in here too. When someone gets hellbent on one specific oversized piece of equipment in mass quantities, there is usually some sort of kickback involved, either in raising the stature of the person signing the order with the company involved (future job prospects), or they get something tangible in return, be it a huge discount, a bonus quietly returned to the guy who made it happen, extra units thrown in for free, etc. Basic common sense would… Read more »
Unfortunately these “middle mile” buildouts became a parody of wasteful government programs. Things like this damage the legitimacy of the government and endanger public support for other government programs. One trouble is that never was a “middle mile” problem. The people who are working on broadband programs now recognize that. It’s cheap enough to wire up large urban customers such as government office complexes as well as hospitals, libraries, things like that. The market can deliver these services at a price that these organizations can pay out of their budget — often these services wind up being duplicative of what… Read more »