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

The Federal Communications Commission came under fire today for wanting to reduce or eliminate E-Rate, the $2 billion-a-year Universal Service program that provides discounts on telecoms and equipment in schools and libraries.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the E-Rate should be changed because students are getting more screen time. He led the vote 2-1 issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing changes and inviting public comment on them.

“Over the past decade, school districts across the country have scaled back the amount of student viewing time,” Carr said at today’s conference.

Carr criticized schools for replacing textbooks and pencils with digital tools and said data showed that “more than half of students now use computers for up to four hours a day, and a quarter spend more than four hours watching.” He said that E-Rate started in 1997 “with a clear goal—to support Internet access for schools and libraries for education,” but “it has grown exponentially.”

“We want feedback on whether the program should be restructured in line with the above, as well as the increased integration of schools and libraries across the country since 1997,” said Carr.

FCC seeks comments on E-Rate expiration

Although Carr uses the word “reform,” the options on the table include closing the E-Rate. This is clear in a many people of the NPRM, which asks for clarification on whether the E-Rate should be limited or sunset:

Should the E-Rate program be limited or sunset to reflect the current number of connections? At what point can policy makers consider that the main objective of the program has been achieved? We seek comment on whether Congress intended the E-Rate to be in effect indefinitely, regardless of how schools and libraries obtain universal connectivity.

Commissioner Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democrat, asked Carr’s office to remove the proposed language to explain whether to introduce the E-Rate program. The chair’s office denied the request, a spokesperson for Gomez told Ars today.