FCC Receives $1.3 Billion in New Emergency Connectivity Fund Applications

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it has received requests for nearly $1.3 billion in the second application filing window of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to fund nearly 2.4 million connected devices and over 564,000 broadband connections. The FCC also committed an additional $269 million to fund connected devices and broadband connections requested in the first application filing window. The FCC offered the second application filing window, which ran from September 28 to October 13, to accommodate strong demand for the program in the first round. The funding can be used to support off-campus learning, such as homework and virtual learning, as schools and libraries continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC to date has committed $2,632,195,122.16 in program funding to school and library applicants. With the first three waves, the FCC is providing support for over 6.1 million connected devices and nearly 2.9 million broadband connections to support 6,028 schools, 512 libraries, and 49 consortia.