PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830
TTY 202 / 418-2555
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
ftp.fcc.gov
DA 12-791
Released:  May 18, 2012
WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU ANNOUNCES E-RATE INFLATION-BASED 
CAP FOR FUNDING YEAR 2012
CC Docket No. 02-6
Pursuant to section 54.507(a) of the Commission’s rules,1 the Wireline Competition Bureau 
announces that the E-rate program funding cap for funding year 2012 is $2,338,786,577.2 Section 
54.507(a)(1) of the Commission’s rules requires an adjustment of the E-rate program’s annual cap based 
on the gross domestic product chain-type price index (GPD-CPI) measure of inflation.3 The new cap 
represents a 2.1% inflation-adjusted increase from funding year 2011’s $2,290,682,250 cap.4 The 
Commission began indexing the annual funding cap to inflation in 2010 to allow the E-rate program to 
keep pace with the changing telecommunications needs of schools and libraries.5  
For further information, please contact James Bachtell, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 
418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484.
- FCC -
  
1 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(a).
2 The 2012 funding year runs from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013.  The E-rate program is more formally known as 
the schools and libraries universal service support program.
3 Schools And Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism: A National Broadband Plan For Our Future, CC 
Docket No. 02-6, GN Docket No. 09-51, Order, 25 FCC Rcd 18762, 18782, para. 39 (2010) (Sixth Report and Order).
4 Id. at 18781, 18783, paras. 36, 40; National Income and Product Accounts Table, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 
May 2012, Table 1.1.4, available at 
http://www.bea.gov/National/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=4&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Plac
e=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Year&FirstYear=2008&LastYear=2012&3Place=N&Update=Update&Ja
vaBox=no#Mid (last visited May 8, 2012) (calculating the percentage difference of the gross domestic product of 
111 in 2010 and 113.338 in 2011 and producing an increase of 2.1%).
5 Sixth Report and Order, 25 FCC Rcd at 18781, para. 36.