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By Kimberly Beltran
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public input on an ambitious plan to recast its E-rate program, created in 1997 to provide funding to schools and libraries for discounts on telecommunications services.
Comments on the FCC proposal – outlined in a lengthy Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published late last month – are due Sept. 16. The commission asks for feedback on a range of possible actions designed to meet three specific goals: Increase Internet broadband capacity, streamline program administration and lower costs.
While the FCC says it started the modernization process in 2010, it was President Barack Obama’s recent call to connect all schools to high-speed broadband and wireless Internet that prompted the rulemaking notice.
“We are living in a digital age, and to help our students get ahead, we must make sure they have access to cutting-edge technology,” Obama said in statement this summer announcing his ConnectED initiative.
To meet his goal of connecting 99 percent of the nation’s schools to high-speed, wireless Internet, Obama called on