Improving the Administration of E-Rate: Ensuring All Schoolchildren Get the High-Speed Broadband Connections They Need

A white paper written by Jonathan Sallet on behalf of Benton Foundation & EducationSuperHighway offering tangible steps that the Federal Communications Commission should take to instruct the Universal Service Administrative Company on how best to speed the approval of E-Rate projects that meet the legal requirements of the Telecommunications Act. The issues may seem arcane, bureaucratic, and/or legalistic. But they are important for two interlocking reasons.

First, of course, the goal of bringing broadband to schools and libraries remains absolutely critical. To be unconnected from broadband is more and more of a disadvantage in America today. And, if anything, the importance of broadband connections to public institutions is only becoming more critical. Today’s students need broadband where they learn, not only where they go to school (a phenomenon rightly termed by Commissioner Rosenworcel as the “homework gap”). And, as trusted guides, libraries are increasingly important as institutions where digital inequality can be combatted.

Second, competition is a critical component of America’s broadband future. One of the issues discussed in this white paper is the importance of recognizing the competitive bidding process schools and libraries undertake so they can receive the benefits of the best broadband facilities at the most cost-effective terms. Sometimes that process will result in new fiber construction rather than merely subscribing to an existing service but, of course, that is a fundamental promise of competition – to introduce new and better ways of doing things.

[Jonathan Sallet is a Benton Senior Fellow]