FCC Can Find $1B to Add to E-rate Funding, Might Consider Increasing Cap, Rosenworcel Says
Demand for E-rate funding always outpaces supply, but the FCC could find “more than $1 billion” to direct to E-rate 2.0 by eradicating inefficiencies in the program, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council event Friday. The agency has received more than 700 comments on proposals in its E-rate NPRM, she said.
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By culling from the eligible services list -- eliminating funding for old-fashioned services like paging -- the commission could realize up to $600 million savings annually, Rosenworcel said. Recent reforms to the Lifeline program will mean another $400 million in savings this year, she said. As for calls to increase the E-rate cap from $2.25 billion per year (CD Sept 20 p4), she said, “I think it’s something that certainly merits a discussion.”
That discussion is warranted, said Ari Fitzgerald, a partner at Hogan and Hartson and former aide to FCC Chairman William Kennard. “There’s a lot of angst expressed in the record,” he said. Fitzgerald looks forward to focusing funds where he thinks they should be: on high-capacity broadband.
Rosenworcel is bullish on the idea of encouraging consortia, which would help with applications and bulk buying, she said. She also wants to look into multiyear funding so schools won’t have to reapply every year. The commission asked enough questions in the NPRM to cover its bases under the Administrative Procedures Act, she said. “The breadth of our rulemaking is tremendous.” Now, the commission needs to discuss the “key things” it can accomplish in a quick time frame, she said. To get something over the finish line “requires that we narrow the conversation.” Rosenworcel pushed for action within six months. “I won’t apologize for setting an ambitious time frame,” she said. “I think this is important,” and as a nation, “we don’t have time on our side."
The FCC needs to focus on the basics in reforming E-rate, Rosenworcel said. The commission doesn’t collect any data from schools on the broadband speeds they're getting, but it’s “imperative” to get “good data” to help approach the issue of equity, she said.
"When you put this in the context of civil rights history, and you look at what Brown [v. Board of Education] was about,” the commission must focus first on ensuring all students have equal access to facilities, said Joe Miller, deputy director of the Media and Technology Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. At that point, educators can turn to the next focus, he said: improving academic achievement.