FCC may kill $2B program that connects schools and libraries to Internet

Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Minimize to nav The Federal Communications Commission was roundly criticized today for proposing to scale back or eliminate E-Rate, a $2 billion-a-year Universal Service program that provides discounts for telecom services and equipment in schools and libraries. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said E-Rate should be changed because students are getting too much screen time. He led a 2-1 vote to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes changes and asks the public to comment on them. “Over the last decade, school districts across the country experimented with a massive increase in screen time for students,” Carr said at today’s meeting. FCC seeks comment on ending E-Rate Despite Carr’s use of the word “reoriented,” the options on the table include shutting down E-Rate. This is made clear in a public draft of the NPRM, which asks for comment on whether E-Rate should be limited or sunset: Should the E-Rate program be limited or sunset to reflect today’s extensive connectivity rates? At what point should policymakers conclude that the program’s core objective has been achieved? We seek comment on whether Congress intended E-Rate to operate indefinitely, regardless of the extent to which schools and libraries have achieved universal connectivity. Commissioner Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democrat, asked Carr’s office to remove the language seeking comment on whether to sunset the E-Rate program. The chair’s office declined that request, a spokesperson for Gomez told Ars today. Gomez said at today’s meeting that the NPRM “has been erroneously portrayed as an inquiry into screen time” in order to float “speculative and unwarranted proposals, including whether the Commission should terminate the E-Rate program or dramatically limit its scope to only rural areas or areas served by a single provider. These proposals reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the challenges schools and libraries face today and reveal a striking cognitive dissonance at the core of this item.” Issuing an NPRM is the first major step toward changing or ending the program. The FCC could make a final decision in a few months, and opponents may challenge that decision in court. Legal challenges are likely to argue that the FCC exceeded the authority granted to the agency by Congress, particularly if Carr tries to end or dramatically reduce the program. The FCC’s draft NPRM argues that although Congress created the program, the purpose for which it was created may no longer exist.