School bus internet, library Wi-Fi lending could end with FCC vote
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The FCC is expected to end a Biden-era rule change that allowed nearly 200,000 schools and libraries to loan out Wi-Fi hotspot devices.
By Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY
It could soon be harder for students to access the internet on school buses and for the public to borrow mobile internet hotspots from libraries.
In a Sept. 23 letter, a coalition of school and library advocacy groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to protect the programs that have allowed schools and libraries to lend out hotspot devices.
“One in five households in our country still do not have access to reliable home broadband. Hotspots are not a permanent fix, but they’ll make sure students, jobseekers, veterans and seniors don’t get left behind,” American Library Association President Sam Helmick said in a statement provided to USA TODAY.
The FCC is scheduled to vote at its Sept. 30 meeting to undo a 2024 rule change made by the Biden administration that allowed schools and libraries to lend out hotspots and provide Wi-Fi on buses as part of the existing E-Rate program, which allows schools and libraries to obtain affordable broadband.
When schools and businesses were closed during the pandemic, Congress allocated $123 million to the FCC to purchase hotspots for schools and libraries. The Biden FCC vote in 2024 came after authority to spend that money ended.
Schools and libraries in every state have already had contracts approved and money has already been spent. In fiscal year 2025, which ends Sept. 30, schools and districts requested a total of $27.5 million for Wi-Fi hotspots.
According to a Sept. 3 FCC news release, the company that runs the program, called E-Rate, would be ordered to “deny pending funding year 2025 requests for E-Rate funding for the off-premises use of Wi-Fi hotspots and Wi-Fi on school buses as these services will be determined to be ineligible.”
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