FCC Hears Advice on Proposed Cybersecurity Pilot

The State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance reported on a series of meetings at the FCC with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and others to offer advice on the commission’s proposed $200 million cybersecurity pilot program for schools and libraries (see 2405160076). Commissioners will vote at their open meeting Thursday. “Our underlying premise, based on our day-to-day, year-after-year experiences working with applicants, is that they need to be informed of all the fundamental program requirements before they begin the application process, to flourish and succeed with the new pilot,” the alliance said in a filing posted Friday in docket 23-234. Potential negative effects “can be mitigated by addressing all the program parameters in the final Report and Order, at the beginning of the pilot, rather than relying on supplemental clarifications being issued later,” the group said. Also seeking tweaks were the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, the American Library Association, the Consortium for School Networking and Common Sense. “It is not immediately apparent that there is a need for funding floors or caps since this is a pilot program in which the Commission retains the authority to choose which applicants are going to receive funding,” the groups said. They said it’s also not clear how the FCC will choose which pilots to fund.