Chairman Pai Remarks at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy in New Mexico

As of 2017, an estimated 6.5 million students nationwide attended schools that didn’t have the Internet bandwidth needed to support digital learning. More than 2,000 schools lacked fiber connections. Notably, 77% of those schools were in rural communities.  If there’s one message you should take away from my being here today, it’s that the Federal Communications Commission is committed to working with educators and state and local leaders across the country to close these connectivity gaps. Our top priority is to close the digital divide—to deliver digital opportunity to all Americans. A key part of this work is our Connect America Fund, which provided more than $140 million to connect unserved parts of New Mexico in its previous round of funding. The next phase will deliver up to
$2 billion over the next decade to connect rural America. And you can’t talk about our support for digital learning without talking about the FCC’s E-rate program. I want you to know that I believe in this program and will continue working with stakeholders like you and folks in Washington to continue improving the E-rate program so that students and library patrons get the support they need.