The FCC report came after the agency sharply increased its definition of what constitutes high-speed Internet. Download speeds of 4 megabits per second formerly qualified, but now it takes speeds of 25 megabits per second. The report said 79 percent of Idahoans living in rural areas and half of all Idahoans lack Internet access meeting the new standard.
But service meeting that standard is widely available now in the Treasure Valley and several other Idaho cities, including Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and Moscow, said Celynda Roach, general manager of Cable One in Boise.
According to an FCC map, about two-thirds of Ada and Canyon county residents have high-speed access. Roach said access through Cable One and other providers has increased since the data used in the FCC report was gathered. "It's older information that we haven't updated, because we weren't asked to," she said.
"I can absolutely say we cover 90 percent of homes in the Treasure Valley area," Roach said. "We have the speed to back it up."
Aldo Casartelli, vice president of Cable One's Internet Service Provider division, said Cable One offers 70 megabits per second downloads and will soon increase that to 100 mgps.
The company has about 175,000 customers in Idaho and is available to about 400,000 homes and businesses, he said.
The FCC report accurately reflects providers' difficulty of covering rural states with disparate population centers such as Idaho, Casartelli said.
Most of rural Idaho has access to digital subscriber lines, which carry high-speed data over traditional copper telephone lines and do not meet the increased speed standard, he said.
"DSL works fine for Internet," said Casartelli, who is based in Phoenix. "But people today have Internet connected to TV. They have iPads connected at the same time they are streaming Netflix. DSL can't keep up with the demand-heavy uses going on. For customers with minimal needs, it's fine."
CenturyLink and Cable One are the largest Internet providers in the state. CenturyLink advertises download speeds up to 40 mbps.
©2015 The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho)
