Schools/Universities

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $15 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $12 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

When scanning the Federal Communications Commission’s latest broadband maps for funding opportunities, city staff in Mesa, Arizona, struggled to find places that still needed access. Mesa’s diverse geography includes older neighborhoods that lacked modern internet services as well as new developments with high-speed fiber.

The Federal Communications Commission granted, in part, a Request for Waiver filed by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of the Managing Director (OMD) offer guidance to participants in the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program on the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023 and announce June 30, 2024 as the sunset date for the ECF Program. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Act), Congress appropriated $7.171 billion and directed the FCC to promulgate rules to distribute funding from the ECF to eligible schools and libraries for the purchase during the COVID-19 emergency period of eligibl

Is the Lifeline program effective? Should E-Rate be expanded to cover school-related connectivity outside of campuses? Would it make sense to fold the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) into the Universal Service Fund (USF)? These were some of the questions asked and answered at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the state of universal service. Sen John Thune (R-SD) claimed the Lifeline program is “riddled with waste, fraud and abuse” and chided the Federal Communications Commission for failing to evaluate whether the program is functioning as intended.

Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and John Thune (R-SD) announced a bipartisan Senate working group to evaluate and propose potential reforms to the Universal Service Fund (USF). The goal of this working group is to create a bipartisan forum to guide education, awareness, and policy-making on this topic.

All people in the United States shall have access to rapid, efficient, nationwide communications service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.

Like most states, Ohio has its own approach to bolstering broadband accessibility. One area where Ohio is seeing progress, Lt. Governor Jon Husted (R-OH) said, is in enhancing its broadband workforce. Lt. Gov Husted, who also leads Ohio’s Office of Workforce Transformation, explained Ohio State University (OSU) has developed a curriculum for 5G and high-speed internet expansion, which can be used by other colleges and universities as well as the private sector.

The Federal Communications Commission is committing over $24 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.