Community Anchor Institutions

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced the category two multipliers and funding floors for the upcoming five-year cycle that will begin funding year 2026 and run through funding year 2030.

It’s not just Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment delays we have to worry about.

The government giveth, and the government taketh away? That may be the case for the future of school-bus Wi-Fi, which is currently eligible for E-Rate discount under the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Services Fund. Whether that will continue is now uncertain due to court cases challenging the validity of the USF funding model. In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on an appeal of a 5th Circuit decision that the Universal Service Fund’s revenue mechanism represents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and more than 80 national and state organizations urged the House of Representatives to vote NO on S.J.Res.7/H.J.Res.33—Congressional Review Act resolutions that would overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to allow E-Rate funding for wireless hotspot lending by schools and libraries, and bar future Commissions from funding hotspots.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that there is sufficient funding available to fully meet the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) estimated demand for category one and category two requests for E-Rate-supported services for funding year 2025. On March 27, 2025, USAC submitted a demand estimate for the E-Rate program for funding year 2025.  USAC estimates the total demand for funding year 2025 will be $3.225 billion, which includes estimated demand for category one services of $1.806 billion, and of $1.418 billion for catego

Education and technology leaders weighed in on what the elimination of Digital Equity Act funds means for students, teachers, and the nation as a whole. Amy Loyd, CEO of the nonprofit All4Ed and former assistant secretary of the U.S.

Congressman David Valadao (R-CA-22) and Congressman Adam Gray (D-CA-13) introduced the Telehealth Network and Telehealth Resource Centers Grant Program Reauthorization Act. This bipartisan bill would provide investment in rural healthcare by reauthorizing the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs through Fiscal Year 2030.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in partnership with the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is seeking public input on how best to advance a seamless, secure, and patient-centered digital health infrastructure. The request for information invites input from patients, caregivers, providers, payers, technology developers, and other stakeholders on how CMS and ASTP/ONC can: 

While it’s not common for an Federal Communications Commission issue to face the court of last resort, two combined lawsuits recently heard before the bench—Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research and Schools, Health & Libraries Coalition v. Consumers' Research—could put millions of anchor institutions, rural communities and American families nationwide in real jeopardy of losing connectivity.

The US Senate voted to kill the decision of the Federal Communications Commission to use the Universal Service Fund to fund WiFi hotspots for students and libraries. The House is supposed to take up the issue soon. The FCC approved this funding in 2024 under then-Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The plan was to use the E-Rate funding aimed at schools and libraries to provide hotspots to bring temporary service to homes without a broadband connection. The idea of using hotspots leaped onto the scene during the pandemic when schools needed to keep students connected to schoolwork.