N.H. senator, FCC commissioner say solving rural broadband problem begins with fixing E-Rate

UPDATE, Feb. 6: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency "will consider increasing the tax paid by consumers or phone companies to finance the effort," reports Edward Wyatt of The New York Times. "Wheeler said that any increase in the tax would be preceded by a restructuring" of how the revenue is spent. "Only about half of the program, known as E-rate, currently pays for broadband connections; some of it pays for outdated technologies like pagers and dial-up connections."

Sen. Kelly Ayotte

As technology advances, some rural areas are still being left in the dust, lacking access to high-speed Internet service, which is being defined by faster and faster speeds. The problems of getting and keeping rural America connected can be solved by fixing the complicated E-rate program, which was created to help all schools and libraries, but which has been used more widely in urban areas, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Ajit Pai, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, write in an opinion piece in the Concord Monitor.

Managed by the FCC, the E‑Rate program "allows schools and libraries to buy technology services (such as internet access) at a discount from communications providers. E-Rate then compensates those providers for the amount of the discount," Ayotte and Pai write. "Lower-income schools and a few rural schools receive larger discounts than their wealthier counterparts. And federal rules prioritize who gets how much for what service. A core component of E‑Rate’s mission is to give rural students the same tech-driven tools as urban and suburban students. Congress had the right idea in the 1990s, but E‑Rate today isn’t achieving its intended goals. And it’s not a matter of how much we spend but how we spend it."

Ajit Pai

But it doesn't always work that way, Ayotte and Pai write. For example, New Hampshire receives less money than any other state in the E-Rate program, getting 25 cents back for every dollar, while a more urban state like New Jersey receives three times more funding than New Hampshire. Vermont, Montana and South Dakota are also at the bottom of the list of getting back money from the program.

The problem, Ayotte and Pai write, is the lengthy and confusing process of filling out E-Rate applications: "It can take hours of paperwork, months of waiting and an understanding of E‑Rate’s convoluted and antiquated rules to even have a chance of successfully obtaining federal funding. The most successful schools tend to hire outside consultants to navigate the process for them—an option that many schools, especially small and rural ones, can’t afford. More important, they shouldn’t have to."

The solution is a student‑centered E‑Rate program, Ayotte and Pai write. "That starts with simplifying the process by reducing the paperwork needed to apply for funding and distributing aid to schools on a more equitable per-student basis (rather than the complex discount formula that the program now uses). And that means giving schools the flexibility to spend E-Rate money on technology that directly benefit students."

"We also need to end the subsidies that result in citizens from rural states like New Hampshire paying for technology services in higher population states like New Jersey. Preparing our children to succeed in the digital world of tomorrow requires us to connect them today," Ayotte and Pai write. "E-Rate must reflect the needs of today’s students, regardless of which school they attend. A student‑centered E‑Rate program would give smaller schools in rural areas a better chance to compete with their urban and suburban counterparts. It would help deliver a brighter future for children in New Hampshire and throughout rural America—and we stand ready to work with the president to ensure that E-Rate lives up to its promise." (Read more)