Schools, Libraries Hail E-rate Category 2 Support for Internal Links, Including Wi-Fi
Educational and library groups cited importance of E-rate USF "category two" support for internal broadband connections, including Wi-Fi systems, within schools and libraries. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition "supports the category two funding framework as it exists today,"…
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SHLB commented, posted Tuesday, one of about 300 recent filings in docket 13-184 responding to a public notice (see 1709250022). "Category two budgets should not be reduced and we believe the framework has been a success so far." SHLB supported "continuation of managed wi-fi so that schools and libraries have this additional option to use a third-party" to run such internal networks, and asked the FCC to give schools and libraries "greater flexibility in allocating resources." The American Library Association also asked the FCC to give library systems more flexibility on allocating funds within their facilities, and to allow category two service funds to be spent over a two-year period instead of by the end of a program year. "Nowhere has the impact of E-rate modernization been more apparent than in classrooms that now have Wi-Fi," said CoSN, EducationSuperHighway and Funds for Learning. In 2014, they said, 25 percent of schools reported sufficient Wi-Fi in classrooms. "E-rate modernization addressed these issues by allocating $1 billion per year of E-rate funds for internal connections," they said. "In the three years following E-rate modernization, 78% of schools received E-rate funding for internal connections and 88% of schools have LAN / Wi-Fi networks capable of supporting digital learning."