FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
January 3, 2013
JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
CHAIRMAN
The Honorable Alcee L. Hastings
U~S. House of Representatives
2353 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Hastings:
Thank you for your letter regarding the School District of Palm Beach County's
application for 2012-2013 E-rate funding. I appreciate your interest in this matter and am
pleased to provide the enclosed letter on this issue from the Chiefof the Wireline Competition
Bureau's Telecommunications Access Policy Division.
If you have any additional questions or need any further assistance, please do not hesitate
tocontact me.
--
Julius Genachowski
Enclosure
445 12TH STREET S.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20554 • 202-418-1000
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
January 3, 2013
Thc Honorablc Alcee L. Hastings
U.S. House of Representatives
2353 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 - 0923
Dear Congressman Hastings:
Thank you for your letter on behal f of the School District of Palm Beach County
and other recipients of funding under the schools and libraries universal service support
mcchanism, commonly refened to as the E-rate program. Specifically, you ask that we
consider certain points as guidelines, including the distribution of "priority 2" funding for
internal connections, as ~e deternline how best to allocate E-rate funding.
Under the E-rate program, funds are allocated according to rules of priority, with
first priority provided to requests for telecommunications services and Internet access
(priority one services). The remaining available funds arc allocated to requests for
support for internal connections and basic maintenance of internal connections (priority
two services). Requests [or priority two services are allocated first to applicants whose
applications are eligible for '!() percent discount levels, then to those eligible for 89
percent discount levels, and so on, until the available funds are exhausted. If the
remaining funds arc not sufficient to support all of the funding requests within a
particular discount levcl, the Commission's rules provide that the total amount of
remaining fllllds must be divided by the amount of funding requests within the particular
discount level to produce a pro-rata factor. The support level for each applicant is then
reduced within that discount level based on the pro-rata factor. The Commission's rules
also require that, in the second quarter of each calendar year, all unused funds from prior
years must be available for use in the next full funding year of the E-rate program.
As technology evolves and the demand lor funding increases, the Commission has
continually sought comment on ways in which we can improve and reform the E-rate
program. We will take your comments into consideration as we strive to balance the goal
of providing the important benefits of the E-rate program to all eligible schools and
Page 2 - The Honorable Alcee Hastings
libraries with the need to protect the integrity of the program and investigate potential
waste, l1'aud and abuse.
Thank you for your support of the E-rate program.
Sincerely,
""---~7-:?(-"3 {?t
Trent B. Harkrader
Chief
Telecommunications Access Policy Division
Wireline Competition Bureau