The US Federal Communications Commission has recently made a move to revamp the government’s subsidy program designed to bring faster Internet service to American schools and libraries after U.S President Barack Obama outlined the importance of a faster transition to the digital world.
The federal agency had also proposed several changes on how the schools would apply for and utilize funds from the E-Rate program such as prioritizing investments in faster Internet connections as opposed to the older technology.
President Obama has encouraged the FCC to expand its E-Rate program in order to give 99 percent of schools in the country enough access to wireless Internet and high-speed broadband system within the next five years as a way to take advantage of using digital technology inside the classroom.
The E-rate program was introduced in 1997 to help schools and libraries to get valuable discounts on Internet-based services and digital devices. The program gets its funds from the fees that the American people pay monthly on their phone subscription. So far, the program has an average spending amount of $2 billion a year with a total of $2.38 billion budgeted spending for 2013 and 2014. However, the demand has been higher by twice the given budget.
Apparently, more schools and libraries have been requesting for speedier Internet services in their move to promote digital learning which has been proven to enhance test scores and increase the rate of graduation. They are believed to be a critical factor for the future state of the U.S economy wherein most standard classrooms now rely on digital technology.
Though experts are unanimous in seeing the benefits of E-Rate and agree to the government’s move to modernize the program, they somehow disagree on how it should be funded. The FCC has therefore sought public opinion on maximizing cost effective measures with every program-based purchase.
Other goals proposed by the program include devising a simpler and faster process for every funding application, faster FCC reviews, and improving the current broadband capacity by ending support to outdated services such as paging.
