Dive Brief:
- A new FCC fact sheet details agency Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal for an open Internet, a bid that would replace FCC rules denied last year by the Supreme Court and hold significant benefits for K-12 classrooms.
- An open Internet allows people to access information via broadband without a service provider getting in the way via slower connections, blockages, or other interference.
- According to EducationSuperHighway CEO Evan Marwell told eSchool News that this proposal, which will be up for a FCC vote on Feb. 26, is specifically helpful for schools because it would guarantee "fair access to poles and conduits under section 224," which will make it easier and cheaper to bring new fibers into a school.
Dive Insight:
“My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want,” Wheeler wrote in a recent Wired article “and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone’s permission.”
This is big news considering that, in May, the Consortium for School Networking and EducationSuperHighway estimated that it would cost $3.2 billion to achieve President Barack Obama's vision of providing WiFi access to 99% of K-12 schools by 2018. The cost analysis was delivered to the FCC and also highlighted the somewhat abysmal state of WiFi in schools, saying that 40% of classrooms reported having zero access to wireless Internet.
The FCC's E-Rate program, which is funded by phone bill surcharges, currently spends $2.4 billion each year on schools and libraries across the nation. The May estimate, however, shows that the FCC still has a long way to go. According to the estimate plan, the $3.2 billion would need to be spent over four years, resulting in the FCC spending an additional $800 million a year.
