FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s E-rate draft order to use $2...

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s E-rate draft order to use $2 billion in unused funds for Wi-Fi internal connections is “greatly needed,” but the commission’s “first priority should be focused on making sure each and every school building and public library is connected to the Internet with fiber or the fastest broadband connection available,” said the Nebraska Public Service Commission in a letter filed Tuesday as an ex parte communication (http://bit.ly/1oyJLnT) in docket 13-184. The PSC is concerned about Wheeler’s proposal to allocate funds to schools on a per-student basis instead of based on the cost of a project. Assumptions made in what Wheeler circulated in an order to shift funds from voice and other services towards Wi-Fi “significantly overestimates the savings,” commented the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (http://bit.ly/1oyLwkZ). The phase-out “would equal only about $675 million; nowhere near the additional $3 billion needed to implement the Commission’s $5 billion plan,” the association said. The FCC considers an E-rate order Friday, and it may be a party-line vote (CD July 9 p1) (See separate report above.)