Why E-rate Should Fund Home Broadband During COVID-19

The lack of affordable residential broadband reflects a failure of US broadband policy. The National Broadband Plan of 2010 called for ubiquitous, affordable, high-speed broadband for all by the year 2020. Depending on which measure you use, the U.S. has fallen short by 10% to 50%. We are now suffering the consequences – residential broadband is often slow, expensive, and not universally available. As a result, school children everywhere cannot engage in online education, and health clinics do not have sufficient telemedicine services to keep everyone healthy. The US needs to recalibrate its rules and funding programs to ensure that everyone in America has affordable, high-speed broadband. One sure step toward that goal is to allow schools and libraries to extend their networks to the home. 

Congress is now looking at whether to modernize the E-rate program to do just that. Eighteen Senate Democrats, a coalition of 7,664 education leaders, and numerous public interest groups have written that the E-rate program should pay for residential broadband connections, since home is where the students are. These supporters identify E-rate as a solution for good reason – E-rate has a long track record of success and bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Congress can also override whatever E-rate rules stand in the way. Even if Congress does not act, however, the Federal Communications Commission has great flexibility under the existing statutory language to use E-rate to pay for residential access. The E-rate statutory language dictates that E-rate funding must be used for “educational purposes”, which gives the FCC broad legal authority to promote broadband to the home when used for education. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented time, calling for bold actions to accelerate efforts to close the digital divide. Libraries and school districts want to enable home broadband access for their unconnected students and patrons. BVSD is proof of that, as are the countless schools and libraries desperately trying to get their constituents connectivity solutions. The restrictions on E-rate cripple their efforts. On behalf of these schools and libraries, as well as their students and patrons, SHLB respectfully urges the FCC: Take the necessary steps to make E-rate funding an invaluable tool for connecting students during this physically disconnected time.