September 2025

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, joined by the American Library Association, EdLiNC, and the Homework Gap Coalition, called on the Federal Communications Commission to preserve school bus Wi-Fi and hotspot lending under the E-Rate program. The urgent appeal comes as the FCC scheduled a vote that could eliminate both programs. The FCC’s proposed action would reverse its 2023 ruling clarifying that Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-Rate funding and its 2024 order establishing hotspot lending programs for schools and libraries.

North Carolina recently announced its preliminary awards for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. The State has allocated $408.5 million for preliminary BEAD awards out of an allocation of $1.5 billion. That leaves an astounding $1.1 billion on the table and likely unspent. There is some hope that the unspent money, referred to as non-deployment funds, will be at least partially available to the State for broadband-related activities. But that possibility seems to be dwindling every day.