Senate Democrats Urge FCC to Delay Evaluating Budgets for E-rate's Category 2 Services
Ed Markey, Mass., and 10 other Senate Democrats jointly urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Friday to delay evaluating the sufficiency of the E-rate USF subsidy program's Category Two services, which provide schools and libraries support for Wi-Fi and internal connections.…
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A Wireline Bureau September public notice seeks input (see 1709250022). The FCC’s 2014 E-rate modernization order required the bureau to compile a report on the adequacy of Category Two services by the start of the 2019 program year (see 1412110049). The FCC should “not prematurely make modifications to this important source of funding, which helps ensure all Americans -- whether urban or rural, rich or poor -- remain connected,” said the letter. “It is premature to evaluate the adequacy of the modernization, given its recent implementation and utilization.” The funding for Category Two services “has only been available to schools and libraries for three filing periods,” and given applicants can file for funding “anytime in the five-year period” it’s “impossible to fully evaluate the program’s effectiveness at this time,” the senators said. The agency didn’t comment.