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E-Rate Funding Resumes after Three-Month SuspensionAfter being suspended for over three months, e-rate funds have resumed flowing to libraries and schools. On November 23 the Universal Service Administrative Company, which administers the program that funds discounted telecommunications services to libraries and schools, sent out an initial batch of 194 commitment letters, covering $24.2 million, in response to applications from last year and earlier.The USAC faces a backlog of more than 4,000 applications amounting to more than $400 million in funds that have been delayed since August, when the FCC began putting the program under stricter financial rules, the Associated Press reported November 24. “It will just take a little longer to get things done because we have to wait month by month,” said USAC spokesman Mel Blackwell. The House of Representatives has passed legislation designed to speed up the release of e-rate funds by exempting the USAC from having to comply with the FCC’s new accounting rules for one year until a permanent solution can be found, but the package of bills in which the measure is included has stalled in the Senate, the Cnet online news service reported November 23. The USAC has announced the filing window for e-rate applications for the 2005 funding year, which will begin December 14 and close February 17—a period of only 66 days rather than the usual 75. Posted December 3, 2004. |
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