The Educational Broadband Service and Why it Matters for Schoolchildren and Unserved Communities

The lack of affordable broadband access in the US has resulted in large-scale educational inequities especially in rural areas where 31 percent of Americans have no choice of broadband providers. For many years, Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licensees have been dedicated to helping solve these inequities, but a proceeding at the Federal Communications Commission is putting these services at risk. EBS licensees are accredited educational institutions (or nonprofits focused on serving the needs of accredited educational institutions). For the last 50 years, EBS licensees have operated transmission facilities on the only spectrum reserved for educational use, the 2.5 GHz band. Unfortunately, in 1995 the FCC stopped issuing new EBS licenses, leaving about half of the geographic areas of the country, primarily in rural areas, without access to this 2.5GHz spectrum. In these rural areas, EBS remains an untapped resource that could make a significant difference in ensuring that those without broadband aren’t left behind.

[Lee Solonche is the Executive Director of the National EBS Association (NEBSA), the professional association for those institutions who hold EBS (formerly ITFS) licenses.]