FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASHINGTON 
OFFICE OF 
THE CHA I R M A N 
The llonorable Cory Booker 
United States Senate 
141 llart Senate Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20510 
Dear Senator Booker: 
January 23, 20 15 
Thank you for your letter supporting increased funding for the E-rate program. 
wholeheartedly agree with your views that theE-rate program must move beyond merely 
connecting schools and libraries to providing connection and equipment upgrades, increased 
speeds, and greater network capacity. Increased investment in theE-rate program will provide 
more educational opportunities for students throughout the United States, including for students 
in New Jersey. 
I consider modernization of theE-rate program among the most important tasks currently 
facing this Commission. This past July, the Commission approved the first major modification 
in theE-rate program' s 18 year history. The £-Rate Modernization Order took signi ficant steps 
towards addressing the Wi-Fi gap in America's schools and libraries. We established an annual 
funding target of$ 1 billion for Wi-Fi, as well as a fairer method fo r distributing funds so that all 
schools and libraries can benefit, including far more rural schools and libraries than in the past. 
Based on Commission analysis, New Jersey, in particular, could benefit from up to $63 million 
in new Wi-Fi funding to impact over 1.5 million students in approximately 3,700 schools and 
450 libraries. 
However, American schools and libraries still face a connectivity gap. Two-thirds or 
schools and libraries do not subscribe to sufficient high-speed connectivity. In addi tion, nearl ) 
one-third of all schools and three-fourths of all libraries cannot get a high-speed connection 
because the infrastructure simply is not available. This gap is worst in rural America. But, it it 
is not just rural communities that are being disproportionately left behind. Low-income schools 
in both rural and urban communities significantly lag behind affluent schools. Nearly 40 percent 
of affluent schools have high-speed access versus less than 15 percent of lower-income urban 
and rural schools. 
Closing this connectivity gap requires raising the E-rate spending cap. Our December 
Modernization Order makes more funding available for schools and libraries to purchase 
broadband connectivity capable of delivering speeds up to I Gbps over the next fi ve years. We 
have looked long-term to forecast the funding needs going forward and based the new $3.9 
billion spending cap on those forecasts. This increase is the first reset of the cap since it was 
initially set at $2.25 billion in 1997, an amount that was not adjusted for inflation until 2010. 
Page 2- The Honorable Cory Booker 
What will actually be spent - and the rate that Americans will be asked to contribute 
will vary from year-to-year. E-rate is funded by fees on consumers' phone bills. As you note, 
the increase may over time require Americans to contribute approximately 16 cents a month for a 
telephone line - annually about the cost of a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. 
I can assure you that I take the fiduciary responsibility over the investment of America's 
contributions very seriously. That's why we have placed an emphasis on improving cost­
effectiveness of the program. The December Order makes further changes to theE-rate program 
rules to ensure more competition forE-rate dollars and to maximize the cost-effectiveness of E­
rate supported purchases. 
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further 
assistance. 
Sincerely,