E-Rate News

FCC Gives School E-Rate Programs more Flexibility to Allow Community Use of Broadband Services (02/18/10).
Washington D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission on 2/18/10 adopted an order that enables schools that receive funding from the E-rate program to allow members of the general public to use the schools’ Internet access during non-operating hours. The FCC also seeks comments on making a permanent ruling to allow for public use of underutilized services and equipment. For full details see:
- Press Release (02/18/2010)
- FCC Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Underutilized Services (02/18/2010)
FCC releases E-Rate 2010-11 Eligible Services List and Request for Comments on Eligibility of E-Rate Items.(12/02/09).
Click on the following to download the full text:
- 2010 Eligible Services List (07/31/2009)
- FCC 09-105 Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Eligible Services (12/02/2009)

USAC announces new funding levels for Priority 2 Requests for FY 2008 and FY2009 (11/24/09) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC)to fund approved requests for Priority 2 services (Internal Connections & Basic Maintenance) for FY 2008 at the 87 percent discount level. USAC will also be issuing funding decisions on Priority 2 services for FY2009 at the 80 percent discount level and above. See: USAC News Brief 11/24/09

FCC announces $900 million carry over to E-Rate FY 2009 (07/31/09). On July 31, 2009, the FCC ordered $900 million in unused funds to be carried forward to funding year 2009-10. The order states that although USAC has projected $1 billion in unused funds is available, $100 million will be reserved for use in E-rate FY 2010-11.
See:FCC-DA-09-1734A1.pdf (07/31/2009).
USAC Provides Audit Guidance (June 2009) . In June, USAC released a series of three short News Briefs dedicated to issues identified during the Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) Round 2 beneficiary audits.
USAC Releases Funding Waves for FY 2009 (4/28/09) The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced the release of wave one of funding commitment decision letters (FCDLs) to Funding Year 2009 (FY2009) school and library applicants on April 28, 2009. USAC sent over 6,931 letters committing more than $134 million in Universal Service Fund support. The FCDLs will notify appicants of funding commitments for Priority One services (telecommunications and Internet access) for all discount bands from 20% to 90%. The first wave is among the earliest ever for the program, coming only behind the first wave issued in 2000, which was released one week earlier.
E-Rate Family Income Survey updated for 2009-10 school year. The survey has been updated with the most recent income eligibility tables released April, 2009 by NSLP for the 2009-10 school year. Use these surveys for E-Rate FY 2010-11 if you are using the alternative discount mechanism. For further details see: Income Survey for Erate FY 2010-11.
Kellogg & Sovereign Consulting, LLC Has Moved! (02/27/09) Please note our new address: 1101 Stadium Drive, Ada, OK 74820.
Broadband Data Improvement Act (S. 1492) signed by President Bush 10/10/08. On September 30, 2008 Congress passed, as part of S. 1492, an update to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) which requires schools participating in the E-Rate program to educate students regarding appropriate behavior on social networking and chat room sites about cyberbullying. As a result, schools will need to update their Internet Acceptable Use Policy to state that it is "educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response." GovTrack.us. S. 1492--110th Congress (2007): Broadband Data Improvement Act, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1492 (Sec. 215, accessed Oct 14, 2008)
OnLine Tech Plan Creator© can be used for preparing your district's 2010-2013 technology plan. This online technology planning tool will assist you in writing your plan and allow you to make sure your district's plan is aligned to E-Rate and NCLB requirements. Don't forget to submit your plan for approval by your state department of education. All plans covering E-Rate FY 2010-11 must be approved by July 1, 2010.
See: Technology Planning
Schools & Libraries News Briefs
E-Rate Central News of the Week
E-Rate Funding Commitments are released in "Waves" usually on a weekly basis beginning in May prior to the start of each funding year. Commitments can be viewed on the SLD Web Site: E-Rate Funding Waves