The Wisconsin State Telecom Association lashed out against...
The Wisconsin State Telecom Association lashed out against the University of Wisconsin for awarding a network infrastructure and services contract to WiscNet (CD May 24 p18), a cooperative provider that has caused some controversy in the state. “Through an arrogant,…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
deliberate, and blatant effort to ignore state statutes the UW has yet again demonstrated that they believe they are above the law and not accountable to either lawmakers or the taxpayers of Wisconsin,” said Executive Director Bill Esbeck in a statement (http://bit.ly/16eAJrN). “Given the UW’s pattern of activity described as incompetence and deception, this latest effort to circumvent state statutes really shouldn’t come as a surprise.” The association described itself as “shocked and appalled” at Thursday’s news. It questioned the timing of the request for proposals and the university system’s broader actions. In response, a university spokesman directed us to a fact sheet on the RFP, announcing WiscNet’s acquisition of the contract last week. “WiscNet was selected through this competitive process to provide the network infrastructure and advanced networks services needed to support instruction of the 181,000 students and more than $1 billion in annual research activities at UW campuses statewide,” the university sheet said. “The procurement process, conducted in accordance with state rules, came in response to state legislative concerns about the relationship between the UW System and WiscNet, and how the system obtains advanced network services.” The university outlined several changes between WiscNet and itself, such as the UW system resigning from the WiscNet board, no longer serving as WiscNet’s fiscal agent and a move to separate university employees from WiscNet employees more clearly. “As part of that planned [network] transition, most UW-Madison employees currently supporting WiscNet operations will be hired by WiscNet or reassigned at UW-Madison no later than July 1,” the university added. It defended the RFP as “an open, rigorous and competitive procurement process.”