MTA Commentary: E-Rate Benefits Montana Schools and Libraries

I thought you’d be interested in MTA’s monthly commentary, which discusses the “E-rate,” a portion of the federal universal service program which provides support for schools and libraries in the U.S. to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet services. Montana’s schools and libraries receive over $4 million of telecommunications assistance under the E-rate.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Geoff Feiss

Montana Telecommunications Association

406.442.4316 (office)

406.594.0424 (mobile)

Serving Montana’s telecommunications industry for over 50 years

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MTA Commentary: E-Rate Benefits Montana’s Schools & Libraries
September 3, 2008

It’s back to school time! Montana’s classrooms again are filled with students eager (we hope) to learn about the world we live in and to prepare for active, productive lives that lie ahead.

Communications technology plays an increasingly important role in the education of our pupils. Students surf the Internet to gain access vast amounts of information available on the worldwide web. Communications technology enables our students not only to connect to the Internet but increasingly, it is being used to connect students and teachers simultaneously in virtual classrooms that may be miles, counties, states, or even countries apart. Using videoconference facilities, students in one school can take courses taught anywhere in the state or across the continent.

Students in rural communities, for example, can take courses that aren’t available in the local school—at least, they’re not available from a local teacher. With distance learning, students now have access to virtually any course taught anywhere. VisionNet http://www.vision.net , a consortium of local telecom providers in Montana, operates nearly 150 interactive TV studios at Montana schools, colleges, and tribal campuses for distance learning purposes.

Such distance learning opportunities, access to the Internet, and other advanced communications applications depend on state-of-the-art communications networks, providing reliable, seamless interconnection between consumers and content providers. Providing such connectivity is neither cheap, nor easy, especially in rural parts of the country where there aren’t as many people to pay for the substantial expense of building advanced communications networks.

Fortunately, there’s help in the form of the federal universal service program. Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides that “consumers in all regions of the Nation, including low-income consumers and those in rural, insular and high cost areas, should have access to telecommunications and information services, including…advanced telecommunications and information services, that are reasonable comparable [in price and quality] to those services provided in urban areas…” The law further provides that “elementary and secondary schools and classrooms, health care providers, and libraries should have access to advanced telecommunications services…”

To accomplish these lofty goals, consumers contribute to a universal service fund which is used to support four main universal service functions: investment in high cost telecommunications networks; assistance for low income telecommunications consumers; support for rural health care networks; and finally, support for schools and libraries in the U.S. to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet services. The Schools and Libraries portion of the universal service program is commonly referred to as the “E-Rate” program.

Funding for the E-Rate program is divided into four categories of service for which schools and libraries may qualify: telecommunications services, Internet access, internal connections, and basic maintenance of internal connections. Discounts may be obtained for any of these services by schools and libraries depending on the level of poverty and the urban v rural make-up of the population served. Discounts can range from 20% to 90% of the costs of eligible services.

Hundreds of Montana schools and libraries take advantage of the E-Rate program, from the Alberton School District to Zurich Elementary School. Over $4.5 million of E-Rate assistance was requested last year by Montana schools and libraries, with nearly 70%, or slightly more than $4 million, being committed by the Schools and Libraries universal service fund. Most of the assistance supports telecommunications service connections and Internet access. Service providers include Montana’s rural telecom providers such as Blackfoot, 3 Rivers, CenturyTel, Frontier, Hot Springs, and Southern Montana as well as a wide variety of other cable, wireless and wireline communications companies.

The Federal Communications Commission currently is seeking public comment on whether certain additional services should be added to the list of services eligible for funding support under the E-Rate. The FCC asks, for example, whether the “Eligible Services List” should include filtering software, a broader classification of basic telephone service, dark fiber, text messaging, firewall service, broadcast messaging and certain wireless Internet access applications. The FCC also asks whether voice over the Internet should be retained on the list of eligible services for further funding years.

These are details that the policy wonks will figure out. Meanwhile, it is clear the various support funds within the federal universal service program provide vital assistance to Montana’s telecommunications providers and their consumers. Clearly among the universal service programs, the E-Rate is a win/win for Montana’s schools and libraries, and our students.