FCC Opens Second E-Rate Application Window for Funding Year 2020

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau opened a second funding year 2020 filing window to allow schools to request additional E-Rate funding specifically to address increased on-campus bandwidth needs. Schools across the United States continue to face unprecedented disruptions and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the school year begins, many school districts are relying on remote learning, either in whole or in part, to educate students. This heightened reliance on remote learning, as well as social distancing in schools providing in-person instruction, has dramatically increased demand on school networks, creating an urgent need for additional on-campus bandwidth this school year. During this second filing window, schools will be able to purchase additional bandwidth for this academic year to address needs resulting from the increasing shift to 1:1 student-to-device ratios in classrooms, live streaming of classroom instruction to students at home, and expanding use of cloud-based educational tools and platforms—all of which can significantly increase on-campus bandwidth requirements. The second filing window will open upon publication of the Order in the Federal Register and close on October 16, 2020.