{"id":33107,"date":"2021-03-12T01:50:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T01:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=33107"},"modified":"2021-03-16T01:51:06","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T01:51:06","slug":"new-7-1-b-fund-to-pay-for-internet-to-student-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=33107","title":{"rendered":"New $7.1 B Fund to Pay for Internet to Student Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 12, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 contains $7.171 billion to fund the creation of the\u00a0Emergency Connectivity Fund<\/a>\u00a0(ECF) which will provide funding to schools and libraries that provide Internet connectivity to off-campus locations, such as to homes of students and library patrons.\u00a0 The Fund will also support related equipment such as hotspots, routers, and modem hardware, as well as \u201cconnected devices\u201d like laptops or tablets.\u00a0 ECF is established in Section 7402 of the ARP Act and is titled, \u201cFunding for\u00a0E-rate\u00a0Support for Emergency Educational Connections and Devices\u201d but despite the title, the funds will not be mixed with the existing E-rate universal service funding.\u00a0 This will be an entirely separate fund with separate rules, separate application processes, separate timelines, etc.<\/p>\n

At this time, very few additional details are known, but here is what I believe will happen next:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0The law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish regulations by mid-May for the application and distribution of funds.\u00a0 I expect the application process will then likely open in June.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0The FCC is expected to issue a Public Notice (PN) in the next week or two, seeking public comments on how they should design the program.\u00a0 Often, PNs give us an idea of the direction the Commission is headed.<\/p>\n

Questions that need answered:<\/p>\n