Providers question Google Net project, saying Missoula already on major fiber route. Meeting scheduled for 3/18

Dave Martin of Blackfoot Communications http://blackfoot.com/ said more than 98 percent of their customers can get DSL speeds of roughly 6 megabits per second. More than half can get 15 mbps. Martin said Blackfoot could meet the needs of a company wanting 50 mbps within 30 days.

"We’re on a major fiber route from Minneapolis to Seattle, so we have a lot of access to a lot of services," Martin said. "People need to embrace that and tout it rather than kind of wringing their hands and saying, ‘Woe is me, we don’t have access to those kinds of services here.’ "

Take S&K Technologies http://www.sktcorp.com/ in "little ol’ St. Ignatius." He said the company writes technical manuals for the F-15 fighter jet and translates reconnaissance data for military applications.

"They’re able to do it because they’re connected to the rest of the world at whatever speed they need to be at," Martin said.

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Because of high interest in the community, Mayor John Engen is holding a community forum from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18, in Missoula City Council Chambers, 140 W. Pine St.

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Spokesmen from two companies that already serve the Missoula area differed in their reactions to the Google offer – but Bresnan Communications and Blackfoot Communications http://blackfoot.com/ both noted that Missoula is on the connected side of the digital divide.

"We have a history of being not only ahead of the curve on technology, but offering it to people in places where large companies have chosen not to," said Shawn Beqaj, vice president for Bresnan public affairs.

"Services in Missoula are as fast or faster than anywhere in the nation," Beqaj said. "That’s a fact."

By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_17300332-2d9d-11df-9619-001cc4c03286.html

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Missoula to apply for Google ultra-high-speed Internet project http://matr.net/article-38383.html

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Al Franken Jokes, But Google Fiber Is No Laughing Matter

* By Eliot Van Buskirk

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/al-franken-jokes-but-google-fiber-is-no-laughing-matter/