FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
January 3, 2013
JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
CHAIRMAN
Th.e jionorable Allen West
. V,S. House of Representatives
1708Longworth House Office Building
WaShington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman West:
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 Chief of the Wireline Competition
Bureau's Telecommunications Access Policy Division.
If you have any additional questions or need any further assistance, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
Enclosure
445 12TH STREET S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 • 202-416-1000
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
January 3, 2013
The Honorable Allen West
U.S. HOllse of Representatives
1708 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman West:
Thank you lor your letter on behalfofthe School District of Palm Beach County
and other recipients of funding under the schools and libraries universal service support
mechanism, commonly referred 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 we determine how best to allocate E-rate funding.
Under the E-rate program, funds are allocated according to rules of priority, with
I'lrsl prJurlty' pruvllkd to rl:qucsts I'or ll.:kcornrnUllicatiolls services and Inlernet access
lpnorlly onc scrvlces). fhe remallllllg available lunds arc allocatcd to requests tor
support tor internal connections and basic maintenance of internal connections (priority
two services). Requests tor priority two services are allocated first to applicants whose
applications are eligible for 90 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 are not sufficient to support all of the funding requests within a
particular discount level, the Commission's rules provide that the total amount of
rcmaining funds 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 thcn
reduced" Ilhlll thaI discount level based on Ihe pro-rata 1~IClOr. The Comillissiou's rules
also require that, in the second quarter of each calendar year, allunuscd funds from prior
years must be available Jar use in the next full funding year of the E-rate program.
As technology evolves and the demand for 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 Allen West
libraries with the need to protect the integrity of the program and investigate potential
waste, fraud and abuse.
Thank you for your support of the E-rate program.
Sincerely,
? .:t-- 8 [ ~'--_
Trent B. Harkrader
Chief
Teiccollllllunications Acccss Policy Division
Wireline Competition Bureau