FCC seeks public's help with E-Rate Internet services program

The Federal Communications Commission this week asked for suggestions on how to improve E-Rate, the federal program designed to give U.S. schools and libraries access to affordable telecom and Internet services.

Raise E-Rate cap, panel tells FCC

In a request for public comments, the FCC asked for ideas on how to make sure E-Rate applicants are maximizing the use of their discounted broadband connections. Particularly, the FCC would like to get comments on whether the legislature should change the existing E-Rate rules to expand what schools and institutions are eligible for E-Rate discounts. Because E-Rate funds are currently only to elementary and secondary schools, the FCC is asking whether it would be beneficial to make community colleges, Headstart or other educational programs eligible as well.

The FCC is also seeking comment on whether the program should be funding computers as well as telecom services, as a lack of computers might inhibit schools and libraries from applying for the program. Additionally, the FCC is also looking to review how applicants determine their school or library broadband needs and whether they could better open up their facilities to give broadband access to the public at large.

The E-Rate program, which has allotted more than $22 billion to recipients since its inception in 1998, gives priority to funding telecom services such as Internet access, as well as wireline and wireless voice. If the program still has leftover money from funding these prioritized services, it can also be used to pay for cabling, routers, switches and network services to improve telecommunications systems delivering data to schools and libraries.

The E-Rate program came under criticism earlier this year when the Government Accountability Office issued a report stating that the program's effectiveness was impossible to evaluate because of a lack of annual concrete goals. Specifically, the GAO noted that the while FCC currently measures the annual number of applications it serves with E-Rate, it has not yet set any standards for how many applicants it should be serving nor how much money it should allot per funding request. In essence, the GAO says the FCC has established performance measures without establishing performance benchmarks.

In addition to evaluating how the E-Rate program decides to allot funds, the FCC is also seeking comment on whether the cap of annual funds for telecom services should be increased. In particular, the FCC is seeking to answer whether "the annual E-Rate funding cap of $2.25 billion" could "limit the extent of broadband deployment by eligible schools and libraries." The commission is also looking into whether it should work to decrease the amount of money available for basic telecom voice services in order to place a greater emphasis on broadband adoption in schools and libraries. The FCC says that any public comment that proposes cuts to funds for certain services should also "specifically articulate how proposed changes in the eligible services list would enable greater broadband deployment."