THE Federal Communications Commission agreed this week to dramatically boost funds to bring high-speed Internet access to schools and public libraries in poor or rural areas, a move that could likely increase Americans’ phone bills by roughly $2 a year.
Educators in support of the 60 percent jump in federal spending, up to $3.9 billion, said it was critical to make sure the nation’s population doesn’t get left behind while other countries invest heavily on high-speed broadband connections.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler estimated that two-thirds of US schools are still without access to high-speed connections, which can affect a child’s ability to do homework, research a and apply to colleges and scholarships, and acquire basic job skills.
“We are talking about a moral issue,” Wheeler said. “The greatest responsibility—the greatest moral responsibility—that any generation has is the preparation of the next generation.”
“16 cents a month is a small price to pay for that great responsibility we all have,” he added.
The FCC’s E-Rate program, backed through a larger “universal service fund,” provides discounted telecommunications and Internet access to eligible schools and libraries. Service providers are required to contribute to that fund, but the cost is often passed on to consumers as a required monthly fee.
E-Rate spending was capped at $2.4 billion a year, but the FCC says actual demand is much higher. In 2013, they said it received $4.9 billion in E-Rate requests from local communities. The latest vote will increase spending by $1.5 billion, for a total of $3.9 billion a year.
The FCC’s two Republican commissioners voted against the plan, saying that businesses would bear the brunt of the added cost for things like employee phones. Commissioner Ajit Pai said he believes the program is plagued by “waste that could be fixed with fiscal reform.”
“The commission shies away from making any hard choices and instead just pours more money into a broken system,” Pai said.
The White House endorsed the plan after Wheeler discussed the details in November. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the FCC’s vote “a huge step forward” in the agency’s program to expand digital learning resources and greater connectivity in schools.
Education advocates have long called for the FCC to authorize more E-Rate spending, so that local governments could plan ahead for costly installations or upgrades. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, said the new vote was “the best holiday gift possible” for teachers.
“Access to the Internet is as important to learning today as traditional textbooks were fifth years ago,” said Wise. “With increased funding for high-speed Internet connections, US teachers and students will spend more classroom time teaching and learning, rather than waiting for webpages and videos to load.”
(With reports from Associated Press)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend December 13-16, 2014 Sec. A pg.9)
