With the Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on July 20, 2023, the Commission makes changes to provide Tribal communities and other E-Rate participants with greater access to the E-Rate program. Specific updates to the E-Rate program rules include:

• Granting E-Rate eligibility to Tribal College and University libraries that serve as public libraries in their communities.
• Creating an exemption to the competitive bidding requirements for libraries seeking E-Rate support for category two services that total a pre-discount price of $3,600 or less per library per funding year. Category two services are the internal connections needed for broadband connectivity within schools. This step can help simplify the application process.
• Increasing the maximum category two discount rate to 90% and the category two funding floor to $55,000 for Tribal libraries. This step can raise the amount of funding for category two services that are reimbursable through the E-Rate program.
• Providing guidance on cost allocation issues experienced by applicants.
• Adopting a formal definition of “Tribal” within the E-Rate program to better identify Tribal applicants seeking E-Rate funding.
• Amending the Commission’s E-Rate program rules to add a Tribal community representative to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Board of Directors.
• Directing USAC to provide increased outreach and training to Tribal applicants.
• Seeking comment on ways to further simplify the E-Rate program for all applicants.

The order and press releases are available at:

 https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-bolsters-tribal-libraries-access-e-rate-program-funding-0

SECA has filed a joint letter with the Commission responding to the Tribal Libraries NPRM.

Download Comments

The WCB announced on March 3, 2023 that the E-rate program funding cap for Funding Year 2023 has been set to $4,768,413,261. This amount represents a 7.0% inflation-adjusted increase to $4,456,460,992, the annual cap for the program last year.

The WCB has adopted the proposals set forth in the Bureau's Public Notice seeking comment on the proposed eligible services list for funding year 2023.

Download FY2023 ESL

The WCB seeks comment on petitions requesting that the Commission permit the use of E-Rate funds to support advanced or next-generation firewalls and services, and network security services.

Comment Date: February 13, 2023

Reply Comment Date: March 30, 2023

Download DA 22-1315 Public Notice PDF

SECA has filed a letter with the Commission seeking for the immediate removal of firewall cost allocations for network security features and requesting that a NPRM be issued to address E-rate eligibility of other cybersecurity equipment and services.

Download Letter

The FCC released an order on September 19, 2022 granting in part a petition filed by SHLB to extended the service implementation deadline for FY2020 and FY2021 non-recurring services. The order establishes the following:

• FY2020: Waives and extends the service implementation deadline to September 30, 2023 for FY2020 non-recurring services to the extent that the applicant had previously requested an extension of the deadline to September 30, 2022.
• FY2021: Waives and extends the September 30, 2022 service implementation deadline to September 30, 2023 for all FY2021 non-recurring services.

FY2022 non-recurring service requests currently have September 30, 2023 as the service implementation deadline under regular program rules.

Download DA 22-976 

Statement from The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); State E-rate Coordinators Alliance (SECA); State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA); and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition on the recent cyber-attack on the LA Unified School District:

"The recent cyber-attack on the LA Unified School District, along with hundreds of similar attacks on schools, libraries, and other educational institutions over the past few years, highlights the urgent need for federal officials to take immediate action to protect our nation's educational entities from cyber-attacks. The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) have previously warned that educational networks are soft targets and vulnerable to cyber-criminal behavior, but the US government has not done enough to protect these networks from harm. The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); State E-rate Coordinators Alliance (SECA); State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA); and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition jointly call upon the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to immediately modernize its definition of "firewalls" to allow E-rate funding to be used to safeguard school and library networks. We also urge the FCC to open a rule-making proceeding and take comment on the Petition filed by our organizations in February 2021 to adopt long-term solutions to this growing cyber security crisis."

The Petition is available at:

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/102081871205710

About CoSN:

CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) is the premier professional association for school system technology leaders. CoSN provides thought leadership resources, community best practices and advocacy tools to help leaders succeed in the digital transformation. CoSN represents over 13 million students in school districts nationwide and continues to grow as a powerful and influential voice in K-12 education. cosn.org

About SECA:

SECA members provide E-rate coordination services in 42 states and 2 U.S. Territories. State Coordinators have daily interactions with and provide training to E-rate applicants to assist them with all aspects of the program. State coordinators serve as intermediaries between the applicant and service provider communities, the E-rate Administrator, and the Federal Communications Commission. SECA regularly communicates with the E-rate program administrator, the Federal Communications Commission, and other federal and state policy makers regarding the operation and administration of the E-rate program to convey recommendations and feedback to fulfill the goals of the program. For more information, please visit www.secaerate.net.

About SETDA:

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing U.S. state and territorial educational technology and digital learning leaders. Through a broad array of programs and advocacy, SETDA builds member capacity and engages partners to empower the education community in leveraging technology for learning, teaching, and school operations. For more information, please visit www.setda.org.

About SHLB:

The SHLB Coalition is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) advocacy organization that supports open, affordable, high-quality broadband connections for anchor institutions and their surrounding communities. The SHLB Coalition is based in Washington, D.C. and has a diverse membership of commercial and non-commercial organizations from across the United States. To learn more, visit www.shlb.org.

The Wireline Competition Bureau has announced that there is sufficient funding available to fully meet the estimated demand for both Category One and Category Two requests for E-rate supported services for Funding Year 2022.

Download DA-22-902 PDF