E-rate applicants face important changes with this year’s program

As schools get ready to apply for federal E-rate discounts for the 2012 funding year, applicants and service providers will notice some new changes to the nearly $2.3 billion-a-year program that helps schools and libraries acquire telecommunications services and internet infrastructure.

The two biggest changes to the program are new gift enforcement rules and updates to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). New gift rules have been “the most talked-about” changes, said Mel Blackwell, vice president of the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC), which administrates the E-rate under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission. The new rules are intended to prevent service providers from currying favor or influencing the bidding process by bestowing gifts on school employees. They come in response to controversies that have played out in districts such as Houston and Dallas, which have landed in hot water with the U.S. Justice Department for accepting gifts that violate federal competitive-bidding requirements.