1. ConnectEd and the E-rate Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking:
Q&A with FCC and ED
Lisa Hone, FCC
Richard Culatta, US Department of Education
Susan Patrick, iNACOL
Peter Zamora, Council of Chief State School Officers
August 20, 2013, 4-5 pm ET

2. www.inacol.org
Welcome & Introductions
Susan Patrick
President & CEO, iNACOL

3. iNACOL/CCSSO E-rate Webinars:
to empower & inform education
advocates
July 25
• E-rate 101:
Basics for
Education
Advocates
August 6
• E-rate 2.0:
Defining
Drivers and
Capacity
Needs
Today
• ConnectED
and E-rate:
Q&A with
FCC and ED
officials
Past webinars archived at: http://www.inacol.org/resources/inacol-webinars/

4. • New Learning Models
• Quality Assurance
• Policy
 Top Policy Issue: Ensure Full Access to
Broadband Internet Infrastructure
Build out broadband connectivity with needs of
digital content resources, and online assessments
to enable student-centered, personalized, blended
and online learning – accessible anytime, anywhere
at school and at home.
iNACOL Priorities

5. Richard Culatta
Director,
Office of
Educational
Technology,
US Department
of Education
Peter Zamora
Director of
Government
Affairs, CCSSO
Lisa Hone
Deputy Division
Chief, Telecom-
munications
Access Policy
Division, Wireline
Competition
Bureau, Federal
Communications
Commission
Panelists
Susan Patrick
President and
CEO, iNACOL

6. Questions for the panelists?
• Type them into the chat box to the right
• We will queue up questions to ask

7. www.inacol.org
Peter Zamora
Director of Federal Policy
Council of Chief State School
Officers

8. www.inacol.org
Richard Culatta
Director
Office of Educational Technology
US Department of Education

9. www.inacol.org
Lisa Hone
Deputy Division Chief,
Telecommunications Access Policy Division,
Wireline Competition Bureau,
Federal Communications Commission

10. E-rate NPRM
August 20, 2013

11. 11
E-Rate Background
• Created by Congress in the 1996 Telecommunications Act
- Commission implementation in 1997
- First funding year in 1998
• Schools and libraries must seek competitive bids for services to
be provided
• Funding year runs from July 1 to June 30
• Schools and libraries must apply to the program every year
• Application window closes in March

12. 12
E-Rate Prioritization
• Eligible K-12 schools and libraries apply for discounts on:
- telecommunications services and telecommunications
- Internet access
- internal connections
- basic maintenance of internal connections
• FCC rules require funding of telecommunications and Internet
access (priority 1) before internal connections and basic
maintenance of internal connections (priority 2)

13. 13
E-Rate Discount Matrix
• Applicant discounts for eligible services range from 20% to 90%
depending on poverty and geographic location
Percentage of Students Eligible
for Free/Reduced Lunch
Discount for Urban Schools and
Libraries
Discount for Rural Schools and
Libraries
Less than 1% 20 25
1% to 19% 40 50
20% to 34% 50 60
35% to 49% 60 70
50% to 74% 80 80
75% to 100% 90 90

14. 14
E-Rate Numbers
• E-rate program is capped by FCC rules at $2.25 billion per year
plus an annual inflation adjustment
- 2013 cap is $2.38 billion
• 25,600 applicants in funding year 2012
- Representing 127,500 schools and libraries
- More than half of the applicants are school districts
• USAC received almost 47,000 applications
• More than 4,100 service providers participate

15. 15
E-Rate Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
• The FCC adopted an NPRM on Friday July 19, 2013
• Released on July 23, 2013, available on the FCC’s website at:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/
db0723/FCC-13-100A1.pdf
• 3 Proposed Goals
(1) Ensuring schools and libraries have affordable access to 21st Century
broadband that supports digital learning
(2) Maximizing the cost effectiveness of E-rate funds
(3) Streamlining the administration of the E-rate program

16. 16
E-Rate NPRM Next Steps
• Input from stakeholders is crucial
- Comments due September 15, 2013
- Reply comments due October 16, 2013
- Ex parte presentations must be disclosed in the record

17. www.inacol.org
Questions & Answers
Please type questions in the chat box on
the left of the screen

18. www.inacol.org
Thank you!
Follow up questions about this webinar?
Contact:
Maria Worthen
Vice President for Federal & State Policy, iNACOL
mworthen@inacol.org