Bulletins

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Big phone company mergers and stricter enforcement of broadcast indecency rules are likely to dominate the agenda of the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who may be nominated as early as this week.

Good afternoon. On behalf of the entire staff at eSchool News, I'd like to salute you all for the job you do every day to manage the operation of your districts, and especially your judicious and effective use of technology to improve school efficiencies and raise student achievement.

Late last year, the company's Inter-Tel Technologies Inc. agreed to plead guilty and pay $9.5 million in charges and costs to settle federal charges of rigging bids, inflating prices and submitting false documents in connection with the federally funded E-Rate program to to connect schools and libraries to the Internet in Michigan and California.

The SLD has recently seen marketing efforts regarding video and other services in the Telecommunications and Internet Access categories that misconstrue FCC eligibility requirements.

Maybe the trouble started when the acronyms describing service providers' business models threatened to outnumber the acronyms describing the technologies they used. But by now, the sheer variety of service providers and technologies alike has overwhelmed a regulatory structure originally designed to make sure two types of carriers - local and long-distance - played nicely together.

The Federal Communications Commission has directed Kansas lawmakers to water down proposed legislation aimed at assessing state fees on Internet-based phone services.

The FY2005 Form 471 application filing window has been extended one day, to 11:59 PM EST on Friday, February 18.

Today, I sent a letter to the President thanking him for the incredible privilege of chairing the Federal Communications Commission during his first term. With a mixture of pride and regret I informed him of my intention to step down as a commissioner and chairman some time in March.

Update: Michael Powell, the high-profile chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who championed a deregulatory approach to the Internet, resigned on Friday.

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) has received notice of the January 5, 2005 conviction of Inter-Tel Technologies, Inc. (“Inter-Tel”) for mail fraud and aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 2, and for conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1.

The FCC released an important appeal decision today in which it overruled a procedure that the SLD has been using for more than two years whereby it would treat "unsubstantiated" funding requests the same as "ineligible requests" when applying the "30% Rule."

If you're one of the thousands of eRate applicants still waiting to hear about your 2004 funding requests, eRate consultants have some important advice: Reapply now for discounts on these same products and services to cover all your bases before the 2005 deadline passes.

Wave 11 for Funding Year 2004 will be issued on Tuesday, January 11, 2005. This wave will include funding for approved Internal Connections requests down to the 81% discount level.

As President George W. Bush prepares to be inaugurated for a second term later this month, school leaders are wondering what a second Bush term will mean for educational technology.

In this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announces that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the first quarter of 2005 is .107 or 10.7 percent.

E-Rate Settlement and Plea Agreement. As identified in the Company’s previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Divisions of the United States Department of Justice have been investigating other companies’ and Inter-Tel’s participation in a federally funded “e-Rate program” to connect schools and libraries to the Internet.

TEMPE, Ariz., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Inter-Tel, Incorporated today announced that Inter-Tel Technologies, Inc., the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary ("Inter-Tel"), has reached a settlement and is entering into a plea agreement resolving the previously disclosed e-Rate investigation by the Department of Justice.

Commissioner Copps Statement

WASHINGTON - The program that helps link schools and libraries to the Internet has resumed spending after a cash-flow crunch that delayed more than $400 million in projects.

Washington, D.C. – The federal program that helps provide Internet access to the nation’s schools and libraries has approved $24.2 million in new funding for projects and services.