As discussed in our newsletter of September 8th, the FCC appears poised to retroactively terminate the E-Rate eligibility of both hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi. Subject to a vote of the three Commissioners — prospectively, a “yes” vote by the two Republican Commissioners and a “no” vote by the one Democratic Commissioner — the FCC will issue:
- A declaratory ruling “that funding Wi-Fi on school buses both exceeds the FCC’s statutory authority and does not promote sound policy choices.”
- An order on reconsideration finding “that the FCC lacked legal authority for this [hotspot] expansion and that the agency failed to properly justify its decision.”
In one sense, we can understand the problem of justifying the eligibility of hotspots when the supporting E-Rate legislation limits funding to on-campus services. We are less comfortable with subjecting bus Wi-Fi to the same restriction when school buses are legally and operationally an extension of a school’s responsibility for its students and their education. We are equally uncomfortable with the fact that the FCC proposes to take these actions without soliciting public comment.
The FCC is, however, in the midst of a public “Section 706 Report” proceeding collecting comments prior to the issuance of an annual report “concerning deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” The removal of support for school bus Wi-Fi internet services for students seems antithetical to that goal.
Using this proceeding, E-Rate Central, in its role as the New York State E-Rate Coordinator, submitted Section 706 Report comments during the initial period arguing for the continued eligibility of school bus Wi-Fi. The NYS comments stressed the following points:
- Students riding on a school bus are under the legal and operational care of the school district. Providing school bus Wi-Fi, therefore, is a direct extension of an on-campus service and should be treated as E-Rate eligible.
- Concerns regarding on-line access to social media or other non-educational sites, which have been strongly stated by Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX), are valid and should be addressed by amending the bus Wi-Fi rules to require filtering to limit internet access on school buses to educational sites.
- School bus Wi-Fi is a valuable service, particularly to students faced with long commutes to and from school and on other school trips. The funding of bus Wi-Fi services represents less than 0.1% of the annual E-Rate funding cap.
The FCC’s Section 706 Report proceeding is now in its reply comment phase. We encourage schools and interested parties favoring school bus Wi-Fi E-Rate eligibility to submit supporting reply comments before the September 23rd filing deadline.
Reply comments can be submitted as short “Express” comments or more expansive “Standard” filings. In either case, you should specify the Section 706 Report proceeding designated 25-223.
With more expansive standard comments, we would recommend:
- Starting by referencing and supporting the New York State E-Rate Coordinator’s initial comments for which you are submitting reply comments.
- Discussing your experience with, or plans for, providing your students with Wi-Fi services on your buses.
- Describing the benefits, both educational and administrative, experienced.
- Describing what steps have been taken to limit use for educational purposes.
- Discussing the costs and contractual obligations incurred with the promise of E-Rate support.
In our view, the likelihood of reversing the majority FCC’s plan to eliminate school bus Wi-Fi at this stage is a bit of a longshot. But we do believe that we owe it to our students, particularly in rural, low-income areas, to do all we can. We urge you to support the effort.