Bulletins

How remote is the little Arizona town of Whiteriver? As locals like to say, its 35 miles from a Circle K. Smack in the middle of the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation, more than four hours from any major city, Whiteriver is pretty isolated. But the local schools are as wired as they come, thanks to generous federal grants that knocked 90 percent off the price of hardware.

Washington, DC, Jun. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. E-Rate program to connect schools to the Internet is riddled with waste, mismanagement and fraud, USA Today reported Wednesday.

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico - In a far corner of a long, cement-block warehouse near San Juan, row upon row of new Internet gear sits in shrink-wrapped purgatory.

WASHINGTON-A Federal Communications Commission official today defended a $2.5 billion government program that subsidizes Internet connections for schools and libraries, but conceded there is room for improvement.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Concerns in the Wiring of Our Nations Schools to the Internet, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations - June 9, 2004

For any contract mentioned on a Funding Year (FY) 2004 application and funding request or pending FY 2003 application and funding request, where the contract includes maintenance that is more than “basic” in nature, the FCC permits applicants 90 days from the effective date of the Third Report and Order [FCC 03-323] …

Manufacturers can now enroll in SLD's Eligible Products Database pilot program. Manufacturers who have completed the enrollment process will soon be able to start uploading data to the pilot program. We expect this upload function to be available no later than July 1, 2004.

In what appears to be shaping up as another black eye for the eRate, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating instances of program waste, fraud, and abuse says he will ask the Atlanta school system to turn over documents explaining how it spent--and allegedly mismanaged--$73 million on building what is described as a lavish computer network.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - NEC-Business Network Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of NEC America Inc., has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total $20.6 million criminal fine, civil settlement and restitution today relating to charges of collusion and wire fraud in the Federal Communication Commission’s E-Rate program, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust and Civil Divisions announced.

Rel: May 18, 2004 (pdf)

Traveling on assignment through Americas heartland not long ago, we were in search of a suitable restaurant where we could catch up with a few colleagues and friends. We were perusing one of those online dining guides that features assessments by actual customers.

Thank you for the recent article on eRate underutilization (eRate funds go begging, April 2004). The one factor you left out when explaining this turn of events is the mind-boggling learning curve needed to apply for funds. After performing this function for our library for one funding cycle (I was the third person in one year on which this task was dumped), I told the library board that next year I would pay out of my own pocket rather than go through the process again.

As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prepares to make key changes to the eRate--such as increasing the minimum amount the neediest applicants are required to contribute, and possibly eliminating the Form 470 used to seek competitive bids--stakeholders in the $2.25 billion-a-year federal program remain sharply divided as to what these changes should entail.

WASHINGTON - Five people have been indicted and four of them arrested on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in connection with a program designed to bring Internet access to schools and libraries, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.

The Federal Communications Commission wants your input about possible regulation of Voice over IP (define) services. As part of its just-released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for IP-enabled services, the FCC said it is looking for specific, pragmatic proposals for the possible regulation of the technology, including VoIP.

At a time of tighter budgets for education technology, schools and libraries are still lagging in their use of E-rate discounts that have been approved for them, according to a recently completed review by Funds For Learning.

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Veon introduced House Bill 2386 to meet Gov. Rendells challenge that legislators fund the creation of a statewide education network for K-12 schools during the next 18 months.

The Schools and Libraries Committee of the Universal Service Administrative Company Feb. 23 authorized the Schools and Libraries Division to begin approving internal connections requests for the 2003 funding year from applicants with discount rates as low as 70 percent, subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

If Cori Capik forgets to jot down a math assignment, she no longer squanders an evening by calling classmates who might also be clueless. With a few clicks of her laptop mouse, the eighth grader at Miamis Palmer Trinity School can easily track down that homework assignment - or any other one she might have missed. And while she's at it, she can peek at her current grades, check the date of her next science quiz, or download the middle-school dance schedule.

In Pennsylvania, many of the states school districts must pay a premium for high-speed telecommunications service because of their location. The lack of affordable access to this technology prevents many schools from using educational materials that are available electronically to other schools using broadband telecommunications.

The Schools and Libraries Committee of the Universal Service Administrative Company January 26 recommended that an additional $1.687 million be budgeted in 2004 for additional resources for the review of E-rate program invoices.

A number of schools have been required to repay some E-rate discounts they received because they were not in compliance with the requirements of the Childrens Internet Protection Act by the date they were supposed to be.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell announced today that he has appointed Lisa M. Zaina as Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Zaina currently serves as senior legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. congressional investigators on Thursday asked for details about $5 million worth of telecommunications equipment that SBC Communications Inc. bought for Chicago public schools with government subsidies, but was sitting in warehouses unused.

The leader of a startup technology company and a former Harrisburg, Pa., School District official were charged last month with participating in a nearly $2 million kickback scheme in connection with a federally funded technology contract for the district, authorities say.