FCC Directs USAC to Fully Fund Eligible E-Rate Requests

The Federal Communications Commission announced that there is sufficient funding available to fully meet the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) estimated demand for category one and category two requests for E-Rate-supported services for the funding year 2023. On March 29, 2023, USAC submitted a demand estimate for the E-Rate program for funding year 2023. USAC estimates the total demand for the funding year 2023 will be $2.944 billion, which includes estimated demand for category one services of $1.658 billion and $1.286 billion for category two services. The FCC announced that the E-Rate program funding cap for the funding year 2023 is $4.768 billion. Additionally, as of March 31, 2023, USAC projects that $440.22 million in unused funds from prior funding years are available for use in the E-Rate funding year 2023.