The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) today commended the Federal Communications Commission for its vote to open a new rulemaking aimed at updating and enhancing the E-Rate. The vote follows President Obama’s ConnectEd proposal last month to enhance highspeed broadband connectivity for the nation’s schools and libraries.
The E-Rate program provides discounts to public and private schools and public libraries for the purchase of telecommunications services, Internet access, and related networking equipment. The President’s ConnectEd proposal calls for leveraging the E-Rate universal service program to within five years connect 99 percent of America’s students through next-generation broadband (at speeds no less than 100Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps) to, and high-speed wireless within, their schools and libraries.
