Senate rejects call to sell/lease ICN

DES MOINES – The Iowa Senate turned back a proposal Wednesday that sought to sell or lease the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) statewide fiber-optics system.

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, offered an amendment to a bill dealing with ICN upgrades that would have called for the state to seek bids by July 1 from private vendors that would be interested in owning or leasing the statewide network.

“This is outdated technology,” said Zaun, before senators voted 19-29 to reject the idea. Sen. Dennis Black, D-Grinnell, was the only Democrat favoring the idea.

The vote came one day after the Senate voted 34-16 to create an advisory committee to study the sale and lease options and report back by the end of 2010.

Zaun said the two-way, audio-video network will require more than $10 million in upgrades, which will be a “drain” on the state budget. He noted that some private vendors have expressed interest in the network and it would make “good, common sense” to proceed with bids rather than invest more money in another ICN study.

However, Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, the network continues to provide essential distance learning opportunities for Iowa schools and colleges as well as telephone, videoconferencing and telemedicine capabilities that save taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

Jochum also noted that the federal government has invested $95 million into the network – including $10 million each for homeland security protections at the Iowa National Guard command center in Johnston and for telemedicine capabilities. She said that money may have to be reimbursed and there would be a host of right-of-way issues for fiber-optic cables connecting the ICN backbone to connection points in every county.

In the past, legislative leaders have resisted suggestions to sell the network, authorized in 1989, contending the state likely would recoup only pennies on the dollar for a system with an overall investment exceeding $250 million.

“That was then, this is now,” Zaun said in pushing to sell or lease a state asset that he contended presents unfair government competition for private telecommunications vendors. He proposed that proceeds from the sale or lease should be deposited in the state's Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund.

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