FCC Waives and Proposes to Eliminate E-Rate Amortization Requirement

Schools and libraries rely on the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program to ensure that they can receive affordable, high-speed broadband so they can connect today’s students with next-generation learning opportunities. An FCC decision in 2000 limited E-Rate’s use for this purpose by requiring schools and libraries to amortize over three years upfront, non-recurring charges of $500,000 or more, including charges for special construction projects. This amortization requirement increased costs for E-Rate supported builds and created uncertainty for applicants about the availability of E-Rate funding for the second and third years of the amortization cycle. In 2014, the Commission suspended the requirement through funding year 2018 in order to lower these barriers to broadband infrastructure investment.

Our experience over the past few years suggests that allowing the amortization requirement to be restored would decrease broadband investment while increasing administrative burdens, and that eliminating the requirement would not create a drain on E-Rate funding. Therefore, we now propose to eliminate the amortization requirement and we waive the requirement for the duration of this rulemaking. Through these measures, we seek to further the Commission’s goal of closing the digital divide by facilitating and promoting increased broadband infrastructure deployment to our nation’s schools and libraries.