Schools, Libraries Jump on ECF as Applications Open

The FCC expects “a lot of interest” in the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, senior officials told reporters Monday before the first application filing window opens Tuesday (see 2105260048). Officials said the program is intended to complement the existing emergency broadband benefit program.

Participation could reach 50-60%, said Winston Himsworth, E-Rate Central executive director. There was a lot of interest when the program was announced, but there has been some confusion about the application and invoicing process, Himsworth said. Applicants are required to justify their unmet needs, which remains an “ongoing controversy,” he said. Senior FCC officials told reporters Monday the commission intentionally left that open-ended for schools to provide their best estimate, since many have already been working to connect students. The officials spoke on the condition that reporters don't identify them.

With nearly 17 million kids lacking broadband access at home, the program is aimed at helping schools and libraries provide services and devices to conduct remote learning. The ECF program allows eligible applicants to be reimbursed 100% of the costs for services and devices, but the FCC capped Wi-Fi hot spots at $250 and devices at $400. Reimbursement for modems or routers wasn’t capped. The initial filing window is open to applicants seeking funding for the upcoming school year and closes on Aug. 13.

“Even before the coronavirus pandemic upended so much of day-to-day life, seven in ten teachers were assigning homework that required access to the internet,” said FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday in a statement, saying one in three households doesn't subscribe to broadband.

Rosenworcel cited a viral photo of two students sitting outside a Taco Bell to do their homework. “It shouldn’t be this hard” for students to do homework online, she said: “We should salute the grit of each and every one of these young people who found ways to go online and keep up with school.”

Schools and libraries that already provided broadband services and devices during the initial shift to remote learning are likely to use the initial application filing window to buy additional services and devices to continue their efforts, Himsworth said. “These same entities will be hoping for relatively low demand in the first window,” he said, which will “increase their opportunity to recoup earlier expenses in a second retroactive funding window.”

As it did for the EBB program, the Universal Service Administrative Co. will publish an estimate of the demand after the initial application window closes to help the FCC decide whether a second filing window for prospective purchases is needed. USAC is expected to process 50% of applications within 60 days and 70% of applications within 100 days. Funding commitment notifications will go out in waves once the window closes, senior FCC officials said. Schools and libraries can then submit invoices for eligible equipment or services that were received and delivered 15 days after USAC issues the first wave of commitments.

“We’re hopeful” that many libraries will apply because there’s “a lot of interest in providing the services that ECF supports,” said Marijke Visser, American Library Association director-senior policy advocate. “I don’t think we’ll see libraries holding out for a second window” for prospective purchases, Visser said. ALA is working with the FCC and USAC to address data retention requirements and patron privacy concerns (see 2106140043).

Schools that plan to return to in-person classes this fall and spent little on remote learning are most likely to pass on ECF support, Himsworth said. If they participate, those schools will likely focus on devices and publicize EBB program discounts to students who lack connectivity.