The federal E-Rate funding program will be boosted by $1.5 billion, to a total of $3.9 billion annually, after a 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Dec. 11. The E-Rate program provides discounts on telecommunications and Internet services to schools and libraries. In July the FCC voted to modernize the program with new funding measures and streamline the application process. The spending-cap increase comes on the heels of a large push from the White House’s ConnectED initiative, which seeks to provide high-speed Internet to 99 percent of classrooms by 2018. President Barack Obama said at a November summit for ConnectED that this goal is a reality for fewer than 40 percent of public schools. Read more…
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