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FCC approves $1.5 billion funding increase to upgrade school broadband
Schools depending on the FCC's E-Rate program to update their internet infrastructures are about to get a little more help: the Federal Communications Commission just gave the program an additional $1.5 billion in funding. The decision was hotly contested -- with Republican commissioners arguing the cost was simply too high -- but the decision eventually split down party lines, passing with a 3/2 Democrat majority. It's a major win for schools and libraries counting on E-Rate discounts, as the program's $2.25 billion budget hasn't seen an increase since 1997 (and a slight inflation adjustment in 2010).
US government wants $1.5 billion more per year to get schools online
The FCC isn't depending solely on help from tech companies to get more libraries and schools connected to the internet. According to the New York Times, agency chairman Tom Wheeler will propose that the FCC should have up to $1.5 billion more to spend per year on internet access for education, giving it an annual budget of $3.9 billion. That's a hefty 62 percent increase, but officials reportedly believe that the upgrade is necessary given that many schools don't have data fast enough for modern learning. Over 40 million students don't have quick broadband, and existing offerings sometimes can't cope with the sheer demand from kids.
New government plan for school WiFi leaves everyone unhappy
The FCC is ready to start doling out up to $2 billion dollars in grants to American schools to pay for WiFi networks, but it doesn't seem that anyone -- especially the schools -- are happy about it. The new rules under the aging E-Rate program, which is part of the Universal Service Fund, would set aside $1 billion dollars this year and another billion next year to set up WiFi networks in schools and public libraries. Chairman Tom Wheeler says the agency should be proud because "10 million kids will be connected next year who otherwise wouldn't." But Republicans are concerned the program will favor urban areas, while failing to deliver much needed connectivity to rural schools. Of course, GOP lawmakers also steadfastly opposed increasing funding to the E-Rate, which had its budget capped at $2.25 billion 16 years ago and hasn't been adjusted since.
FCC proposal would fund WiFi networks in schools
The FCC's E-rate program has been funding classroom internet access for a while, but it's focused on wired connections; that's a bit short-sighted in an era where many laptops and tablets are WiFi-only. Agency officials are keenly aware of this need to catch up, as they've proposed a plan that uses some of E-rate's funding for wireless networks in schools and libraries. FCC staffers estimate that they could get over 10 million students online in 2015 through the effort, which would devote both $1 billion and modernize E-rate's broadband distribution rules.
ConnectED program could deliver 100Mbps broadband to 99 percent of US students
Many attempts to supply broadband to US students, on- and off-campus, have been imperfect at best: they either leave gaps in coverage or carry woefully inadequate bandwidth. The White House is aiming for much, much better service through its ConnectED initiative. The proposed five-year program would rework the FCC's E-Rate subsidies to offer at least 100Mbps broadband (and ideally 1Gbps) to 99 percent of American students. Schools could also use their funding to set up WiFi, although they would have to pay for any computing power themselves. ConnectED would add about 40 cents a month to phone bills, but it could put most schools on an equal plane -- and keep pace with increasingly faster connections at home. [Image credit: Johan Larsson, Flickr]
AT&T pays out $8.2 million settlement over school E-Rate program
"Settlement" and "needy schools" aren't two things that most companies would like to see in a press release, but that's exactly what AT&T is dealing with at the moment after it has paid out $8.2 million to settle a dispute involving the E-Rate program, which uses funds collected from phone customers to pay for hardware and connectivity service fees for schools and libraries. According to the Department of Justice, AT&T (or, more specifically, AT&T Technical Services Corp.) allegedly not only engaged in non-competitive bidding practices for E-Rate contracts, but claimed and received E-rate funds for goods and services that weren't eligible for the program, and over-billed the E-Rate program for some of the services it provided. This resolution is also apparently specifically a result of a federal investigation into fraud and anti-competitive conduct in the E-Rate program in Indiana which, it seems, is still ongoing.
