Bulletins

Two important deadlines are approaching for certain Funding Year 2004 and Funding Year 2003 applicants.

We note that the Commission received several comments and reply comments in response to the initial Public Notice for the Funding Year 2005 Eligible Services List. The Commission has incorporated some of the suggestions provided in the comments, plans to incorporate other suggestions in the Funding Year 2006 Eligible Services List, and will consider comments concerning specific issues, such as dark fiber and voice over Internet protocol, in the active proceeding in CC Docket No. 02-6.

Service providers will be required to pre-register and guarantee payment in advance. The Training Agenda and Presentations for the training sessions will be available in advance of the sessions on the 2004 Service Provider Training page.

SLD is pleased to announce that it will be providing a series of three 2-day live training sessions for service providers.

The SLD held a Train-the-Trainer workshop on September 27–29, 2004, in Arlington, Virginia. The presentations from this workshop have been posted to the "Train-the-Trainer" 2004 Workshop Presentations page in the Reference Area of the SLD web site.

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Money to wire schools and libraries to the Internet and help fund rural health care should resume flowing soon, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell said on Wednesday, a day after lawmakers attacked the agency for stopping funds.

Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns on Tuesday vowed to maintain but fix a program that helps rural schools, libraries and rural health centers to the Internet. Burns is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the troubled program, known as the E-Rate program.

The FCC has determined that the public interest will be served if it delays enforcement of the recently adopted Red Light Rule from October 1, 2004 to November 1, 2004.

Applicants and members of the public can now view the SLD’s pilot Eligible Products Database.

The following comments are submitted in response to the Proposed Fourth Quarter 2004 Universal Service Contribution Factor (DA 04-2976) released by the Wireline Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) on September 16, 2004.

Sign up for school lunch and a win a trip to Hawaii? That's what the Department of Education is dangling in front of parents in exchange for getting their lunch forms in promptly.

USAC has been directed by the FCC to move to government accounting standards by October 1, 2004, and this has raised potential budget authority issues that may impact USAC.

To promote greater transparency to what is eligible for support under the schools and libraries support mechanism, on December 23, 2003 the Commission adopted a rule which formalizes the process for updating the eligible services list, beginning with Funding Year 2005.

By the Commission: Chairman Powell, and Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, and Adelstein issuing separate statements; Commissioner Martin approving in part, dissenting in part, and issuing a statement.

The federal government is demanding the return of $5.7 million in grant money that Kentucky school districts already have spent on computer equipment.

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