Libraries

The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal seeking comment on improving transparency and efficiency in the competitive bidding process for the E-Rate program. The proposal would require bids for E-Rate services and equipment to be uploaded into a centralized document portal managed by the Universal Service Administrative Company. This would replace a process by which service providers submit bids directly to applicants for E-Rate-supported equipment and services. The order also seeks comment on other ways to improve the competitive bidding process and

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is committing $169,297,501.79 million in its latest wave of Emergency Connectivity Fund program support, which will connect over 500,000 students in 47 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. These additional commitments bring the current total commitments to over $3.2 billion. The funding can be used to support off-campus learning, such as nightly homework and virtual learning, as schools and libraries continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A review of applications for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) demonstrates the urgent need for laptop computers and internet access for millions of K-12 students and library patrons. Schools and libraries have requested support for 12.9 million devices via the ECF. There were two ECF filing windows in 2021. 9.4 million laptop computers were requested along with another 1.7 million tablet computers. Connected learning devices represented two-thirds of the $6.3 billion in support that was requested, and 17 percent of the funds were requested for mobile broadband.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it will commit over $421 million in the latest round of Emergency Connectivity Fund announcements, bringing total program commitments to over $3.05 billion. The funding is supporting schools and libraries in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. The funding can be used to support off-campus learning, such as nightly homework and virtual learning, as schools and libraries continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Comcast wants the Federal Communications Commission to clarify that it can continue its Lift Zone pilot project beyond the 2022 expiration of a waiver it obtained from an E-rate program rule. The FCC agreed in October to let Comcast test expanding its Lift Zone diverse broadband access program from community centers so libraries that receive E-rate funding. It did so by extending its pandemic-related waiver of the prohibition on gifts from providers to E-rate school and library recipients until June 30, 2022.

Congress took a significant step toward solving the digital divide when it created the Emergency Connectivity Fund in the spring of 2021, appropriating over $7 billion for schools and libraries to connect learners to broadband off campus. Interviews with nearly a dozen Emergency Connectivity Fund applicants reveal that, while there is room for improvement, the program as a whole seems to be working. The FCC has approved applications both large and small in almost every state in the country.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it has received requests for nearly $1.3 billion in the second application filing window of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to fund nearly 2.4 million connected devices and over 564,000 broadband connections. The FCC also committed an additional $269 million to fund connected devices and broadband connections requested in the first application filing window.

As Democrats attempt to shrink their social spending plan by hundreds of billions of dollars in order to reach consensus between moderates and progressives, the fate of several of its tech provisions hangs in the balance. House Democrats included a boatload of technology and telecommunications cash in the original $3.5 trillion version of their spending package, which the party is planning to pass without GOP support under a process called reconciliation.

The Federal Communications Commission is committing more than $1.1 billion as part of its $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund program, aimed at boosting broadband access for students, school staff, and library patrons. The agency has already committed nearly $2.4 billion to date. The FCC has processed nearly 60% of the applications it received for emergency connectivity funding during an application window that closed in August, surpassing an internal goal to process 50% within two months.