FCC Seeks Comment on COVID-19 E-Rate Funding

The next round of COVID-19 stimulus will include a $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund aimed at helping schools and libraries address spending incurred in support of remote learning.

The FCC has opened up a round of comments, seeking to address eligibility, filing deadlines, CIPA compliance, and retroactive funding. A major question facing the FCC will be the availability of funding for expenses incurred over the last year.

While there are still many unknowns and decisions to be made, there is also significant cause for optimism. The legislation has called for 100% reimbursement for eligible items covered by the Emergency Connectivity Fund, and Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and even potentially end-user devices could be included and eligible for reimbursement.

Full text of the request for public comment can be found here.