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  2. April 2019

April 2019

Getting the E-Rate to Deliver the High-Speed Broadband Connections Schoolchildren Need

With enormous progress being made by the Federal Communications Commission’s 2014 E-Rate modernization, it became clear that some schools were nonetheless being left behind.  As a result, Benton commissioned Improving the Administration of E-Rate: Ensuring All Schoolchildren Get the High-Speed Broadband Connections They Need to help the FCC make good on the 2014 reforms -- and ensure that every student, regardless of income or geography, had access to the same digital learning opportunities.

Improving the Administration of E-Rate: Ensuring All Schoolchildren Get the High-Speed Broadband Connections They Need

A white paper written by Jonathan Sallet on behalf of Benton Foundation & EducationSuperHighway offering tangible steps that the Federal Communications Commission should take to instruct the Universal Service Administrative Company on how best to speed the approval of E-Rate projects that meet the legal requirements of the Telecommunications Act. The issues may seem arcane, bureaucratic, and/or legalistic. But they are important for two interlocking reasons.

Ernest Hollings, a South Carolina Senator Who Pushed for Broadcast Cable Regulation, Dies at 97

Ernest F. Hollings, known as Fritz, a silver-haired South Carolina Democrat who served 38 years in the US Senate, died on April 6 at age 97. Hollings, who retired in 2004, had successfully pushed for broadcast cable regulation.

Chairman Pai’s Response to Sens Markey and Sullivan Regarding the FCC’s E-Rate Program

On March 7, Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express concern about the transition by the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) to a new vendor for reviewing E-Rate applications. On March 28, Chairman Pai responded by saying "USAC recently migrated to a new Business Process Outsourcing vendor to perform certain administrative functions for the E-Rate program.

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