FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
September 23, 2010 David
Fiske, 202-418-0513
Email: david.fi...@fcc.gov
FCC ENABLES HIGH-SPEED, AFFORDABLE BROADBAND FOR
SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES
Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission today upgraded and
modernized the E-rate program to bring fast, affordable Internet access to
schools and libraries across the country. These changes will help ensure that
America's students can learn and develop the high-tech skills necessary to
compete in the 21st Century economy.
The National Broadband Plan laid out a series of recommendations to promote
broadband-enabled, cutting-edge learning inside and outside the classroom. One
of the key recommendations is modernizing the FCC's E-rate program, established
by Congress to bring connectivity to all schools and libraries across America.
The program has achieved remarkable success -- 97 percent of American schools
and nearly all public libraries now have basic Internet access.
But the Plan found that basic broadband connectivity is too slow to keep up
with the innovative high-tech tools that are now essential for a world-class
education. According to a recent FCC survey, 78 percent of E-rate recipients
say they need faster connections to meet the speed and capacity demands of
their students, teachers, and library patrons.
The FCC's E-rate Order makes it easier for schools and libraries to get the
highest speeds for the lowest prices by increasing their options for broadband
providers and streamlining the application process. The Order is another
advance in the Commission's ongoing transformation of the Universal Service
Fund, of which the E-rate program is part, to deploy broadband throughout
America.
The FCC's upgrades to E-rate include:
* Super-Fast Fiber: The FCC's E-rate Order will help bring affordable,
super-fast fiber connections to America's schools and libraries. It allows
participants to use E-rate funds to connect to the Internet in the most
cost-effective way possible, including via unused fiber optic lines already in
place across the country and through existing state, regional and local
networks. With these fiber networks, schools and libraries can provide students
and communities with cutting-edge connectivity, while at the same time saving
millions of dollars by bypassing more expensive options.
* School Spots: The FCC is also opening the door to "School Spots" -- where
schools have the option to provide Internet access to the local community after
students go home. With affordable fiber, these School Spots are a major step
toward the National Broadband Plan's goal of connecting an anchor institution
in every community to affordable 1 gigabit per second broadband. School Spots
will help ensure that people who otherwise lack access can use broadband.
* Learning On-the-Go: The FCC is launching a pilot program that supports
off-campus wireless Internet connectivity for mobile learning devices.
Education doesn't stop at the schoolyard gate or the library door. Digital
textbooks and other innovative wireless devices allow students to learn in a
real-world context, inside the classroom and beyond. Because of their low cost
and accessibility, these mobile devices can also help advance digital equality,
particularly for children from economically disadvantaged communities.
* 21st Century E-rate Program: The Order brings E-rate into the 21st
Century by making the program more effective and efficient. These improvements
include:
* Indexing the cap on E-rate funding to inflation in a fiscally
responsible manner, so that the program can more fully meet the needs of
students and communities. Since 1997 when the E-rate program started, inflation
has raised costs 30 percent but the program has remained capped, significantly
decreasing its effective purchasing power. Earlier this month, the Commission
reserved hundreds of millions of dollars annually from another program of the
Universal Service Fund to cover the incremental E-rate support (less than $25
million next year) it is providing, without growing the overall size of the
Universal Service Fund.
* Supporting connections to the dormitories of schools that serve
students facing unique challenges, such as Tribal schools or schools for
children with physical, cognitive, or behavioral disabilities.
* Bolstering protections against waste, fraud, and abuse by codifying
competitive bidding requirements and clarifying ethics obligations.
* Streamlining the E-rate application process for educators and
librarians.
Formally called the Schools and Libraries Universal Service program, the E-rate
program provides up to $2.25 billion annually to support telephone and Internet
connections at schools and libraries across the country. The program supports
both the cost of telecommunications and Internet service and the installation
of internal networks. Since it was established by the 1996 Telecommunications
Act, the program has connected most of the nation's classrooms to the Internet,
and supports continued service and necessary upgrades of school and library
networks.
Action by the Commission September 23, 2010, by Report and Order (FCC 10-175).
Chairman Genachowski, Commissioners Copps, and Clyburn with Commissioner
McDowell approving and dissenting in part and Commissioner Baker approving and
concurring in part. Separate statements issued by Chairman Genachowski,
Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn, and Baker.
-FCC-
News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the
Commission's web site www.fcc.gov<http://www.fcc.gov/>.
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