“We have a guy here who was dropped into remote, isolated areas of Iraq to set up their telecommunications systems. He told me, ‘We had better communications in Iraq than you have in Central Idaho.’ ”-Christine L. Frei, Clearwater Economic Development Association

A recent survey listed Idaho with the slowest internet service.  Now a new survey lists the Pocatello area (in southeastern Idaho) as the place with the slowest internet service in the whole state.

Some internet service providers use only line of sight broadcasts, which is extremely slow.  They blame snow, rain, clouds, fog and even bears rubbing on their transmission towers for internet disruptions.

The Federal government is spending $25 million to upgrade Idaho’s internet services. Part of the reason is that Allstate is building a big call center in Chubbuck, within the extremely slow Pocatello internet service area.

The other reason for the Federally funded upgrades is that Idaho has been pushing an at home internet school program for its High Schools: “Without broadband, especially in rural areas, kids might not reach their full potential. And we can’t expect to be competitive in a global economy.”-Jonathan Adelstein, Rural Utilities Service

One of the reasons Idaho has such slow internet service is also one of the reasons people like living in Idaho; only 19 people per square mile!

This makes it difficult for companies to make money providing internet service: “It’s not the lack of availability. It’s the lack of demand and what people are willing to pay.”-Bibiana Nertney, Idaho Department of Commerce

Most big businesses in Idaho actually get high speed internet service, but only because they can afford the outrageous fees.  Even Idaho’s public schools have high speed internet on campus.