{"id":1769,"date":"2014-07-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/e-rate-update\/"},"modified":"2019-12-16T12:54:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T17:54:00","slug":"e-rate-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/e-rate-update\/","title":{"rendered":"E-Rate Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Communications Commission released a report<\/a> on July 2nd of the potential impact of a pending proposal to modernize the federal E-Rate program to meet a pressing demand by the nation\u2019s schools and libraries: robust connectivity to the Internet through Wi-Fi networks. The report provides a state-by-state breakdown of the estimated number of additional students, schools and libraries that would gain E-rate funding needed for Wi-Fi upgrades over the next five years under the proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Nationwide, the proposal would increase funding for Wi-Fi 75 percent for rural schools and 60 percent for urban schools, allowing an additional 44 million students and 16,000 libraries to have access to Wi-Fi services by 2019, all within existing program funding.<\/p>\n

Chairman Wheeler stated, \u201cModernizing E-Rate to expand Wi-Fi connectivity in schools and libraries will empower students and library patrons to use the latest education technology to access new learning opportunities and infinite worlds of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 11, 2014, the FCC will vote on an E-Rate modernization proposal that would dramatically increase support for Wi-Fi connections in schools and libraries. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler put forward this proposal as the first step in comprehensively modernizing the program. The proposal has three goals:<\/p>\n